FLORISSANT, Missouri — An alarming discovery of radioactive contamination at the Jana Elementary School in Florissant united a bipartisan chorus of calls for action from Missouri politicians.
Local officials from Missouri's Congressional delegation called for more transparency from the federal government after an independent study detected the issue.
In a letter to President Biden, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) wrote, "The Army Corps has been 'cleaning up' the contamination site for at least two decades. Enough is enough."
Hawley demanded Biden to "declare a federal emergency" to free up enough federal funds to identify and remove the remaining waste.
Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-Missouri) said the federal government dumping hazardous waste in a poor community of color in the first place is a prime example of racial and environmental injustice.
The fact it has taken so long to track down and clean up raised new questions about what every level of government can do to protect people now.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy and Army Corps of Engineers, Bush demanded the federal agencies hold a public briefing, writing "we need answers, not excuses."
Hawley wrote a letter to the Corps of Engineers and said it should conduct new tests, and "make the results public."
Bush has filed a bill in the House that would require the Army Corps of Engineers to put up signs in areas where remediation has not been completed.
"When my mother moved into Florissant by Coldwater Creek, we did not receive any information saying that this was a thing," Bush said Thursday afternoon. "We didn't even know that there was a Manhattan Project where there was possible uranium in the community."
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page praised the Hazelwood School District's decision to send students into remote learning until they can be reassigned to new schools.
"I don't think we should be panicking, but this is an urgent situation," Page told 5 On Your Side.
Page's Republican challenger, Mark Mantovani, suggested local leadership could've done more to "incite activity from the federal government."
"I am embarrassed for our community that we have allowed children to fall victim to these diseases for decades," Mantovani said.
"Nobody's happy with the pace of this," Page responded. "The more money we get into our region, the quicker the Corps of Engineers can work to clean it up."
"The county does not have the expertise to handle radioactive material," Page said. "And we don't have the jurisdiction to handle radioactive material. And we can't pretend we do. No one benefits from that."