PIKETON – The U.S. Department of Energy is planning additional environmental testing in response to Monday's closure of Zahn’s Corner Middle School that has left parents wondering whether their children’s health has been impacted.

“Routine air samples in the area of DOE’s Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon revealed trace amounts of two radiological isotopes that were more than 1,000 to 10,000 times below the established threshold of public health concern,” says a statement released by DOE Monday night and attributed only to an unnamed senior DOE official. “DOE treats all detections seriously – even those that are at such low levels.

"We are working together with the local officials and stakeholders to engage an independent third party to perform an additional analysis of the air and ground readings to properly assess the situation. We are confident that those findings will allay any cause for further concern."

The decision to close

On Monday, Scioto Valley Local Schools Board of Education President Brandon Wooldridge posted an open letter to students, parents, staff and the community at large on the Zahn’s Corner Middle School Facebook page informing them of the decision to close the school for at least the remainder of this school year as the result of the contamination. Students at the facility had seven days remaining on the school calendar.

"The Scioto Valley Local School District was notified that enriched uranium was detected inside Zahn's Corner Middle School and that Neptunium 237 was detected in a U.S. Department of Energy air monitor located adjacent to Zahn’s Corner Middle School," the letter states. "As a result of this information, the SVLSD Board of Education has made the decision to close the Zahn's Corner Middle School until the source, extent, level of contamination, and potential impacts to public health and the environment can be determined."

"It is the position of the Board that any level of contamination on or near our school is unacceptable."

The letter brought several responses from parents on the social media platform. Some were upset at the way the notification was handled. Others called for the Pike County General Health District to review the health records of students who have attended over the past several years to look for signs of exposure, while some expressed concern regarding other properties in the vicinity of the school and for their own children’s well-being.

What are the elements involved?

Uranium is a silvery-white metal that forms the basis of nuclear energy. One variety, or isotope, is uranium 235, which is the only one capable of nuclear fission, the process that releases the energy used in nuclear reactors. Uranium 235 makes up only 0.7 percent of natural uranium, but the plant in its heyday produced uranium enriched with 4 to 5 percent of uranium 235.

Neptunium 237, meanwhile, is a silvery metal produced as a byproduct of nuclear power production that is radioactive and can enter soil, water and air. A small portion of neptunium in the human bloodstream can expose bones and the liver to radiation, which can cause cancer. According to the Health Physics Society, if 100,000 people were continuously exposed to neptunium over a certain level of concentration, on average about two could develop cancer.

READ: Waste cell debate a top story of 2018

Decision followed public forum

The closure comes on the heels of a health district public forum conducted April 27 that was called after officials with the health district reviewed data contained in the 2017 DOE Annual Site Environmental Report and examined a technical memorandum created from sampling data gathered and analyzed by a professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry from Northern Arizona University over the past year. The data from those two sources, according to Pike County Health Commissioner Matthew Brewster, includes sample results taken from private properties, the middle school and state waters within a five-mile radius of the plant site.

The highlights of the findings, according to Brewster, included discovery of enriched uranium at the middle school, the detection of non-fallout neptunium in water and sediment samples taken from a private property adjacent to where the Department of Energy is constructing an on-site waste disposal cell and the detection of enriched uranium and non-fallout neptunium on private properties and state waterways.

As a result, the health district asked the Ohio Department of Health to help oversee independent sampling and risk assessment of off-site priorities that leads to an action plan to address the contamination inside of Zahn's Corner Middle School. It also asked that all construction on the disposal cell be stopped immediately until the extent of contamination is determined and until it can be confirmed that any further contamination can be prevented. It also asked that the open air demolition of the site's large process buildings be delayed until "it can be independently verified that demolition activities can be performed without off-site impacts."

Piketon Mayor Billy Spencer told the Cincinnati Enquirer that there is concern that dust contaminated with radioactive elements may be being kicked up by work being done to clear land and construct an on-site waste disposal facility on the DOE site, which is roughly four miles from Zahn's Corner Middle School.

READ: Piketon wants hearing on what will go in waste cell

Reacting to the situation

On Tuesday, Heidi Griesmer, deputy director for communication for the Ohio EPA, issued a statement of support for an independent investigation into the contamination.

"We feel it is important for DOE to gather samples from the area and finish the investigation quickly so we all can make informed decisions," the statement said, with Griesmer adding that the Ohio Department of Health has been asked to help evaluate data from the site.

Officials from the Pike County General Health District, along with local government officials, representatives of the Scioto Valley Local School District and one fence line neighbor to the disposal cell construction recently had a series of meetings with Ohio's congressional delegation and Assistant Energy Secretary Anne White asking for their support for an independent investigation into the situation and to put an immediate halt to construction of the on-site waste disposal cell.

Brewster, in a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, said that DOE has agreed to fund additional sampling of the off-site contamination and that the Pike County General Health District will be allowed to select the independent contractor to conduct the work.

Brewster further stated that White did not agree to stop construction on the on-site disposal cell, at least until more data comes in, and that she said another isotope did show up in 2018 air monitor data in the area.

"We asked Anne if there were any other transuranics detected at any of the offsite air monitors such as Zahn's Corner Middle School," Brewster said. "She stated that Americium 241 was detected at the school air monitor in 2018. Am 241 is another radioactive isotope that is very similar to neptunium as far as health effects."

Brewster said the health district would post more information regarding 2018 air data would be posted once it is received from DOE.

Where the disposal cell fits in

The on-site waste disposal cell, which is being created to handle disposal of what is being called low-level contaminated material from the future demolition of the process buildings, has been the source of passionate debate since a Record of Decision allowing the project to move forward was approved in 2015. Several local government entities ranging from city and village councils to school boards and health districts have passed resolutions opposing its construction after an independent study commissioned by the Village of Piketon revealed fractures in the bedrock at the disposal cell site that opponents fear could lead to groundwater contamination if the cell developed a leak.

READ: Piketon to DOE: "We're not going to quit"

Representatives of the Department of Energy and lead site contractor, Fluor-BWXT, have countered the concerns, saying the site is being constructed with state-of-the-art engineering practices that will protect the local environment for centuries to come. DOE has also stated that material with higher levels of contamination will continue to be transported off-site for disposal.

Plans call for the disposal cell to be ready to start accepting construction debris shortly after the start of the next decade.

Cincinnati Enquirer staff writers Anne Saker and Mark Rosenberg contributed to this story.

Open Houses Scheduled

The U.S. Department of Energy has a trio of upcoming open houses scheduled to provide updates on the cleanup work at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. During the open houses, DOE will present information on building deactivation, demolition planning, the on-site waste disposal facility and environmental monitoring.

The open houses will each take place from 2 to 7 p.m. They will be conducted Thursday at Shawnee State University's University Center, 940 2nd St., Portsmouth; May 21 at the Pike County YMCA, 400 Pride Drive, Waverly; and May 23 at the Christopher Conference Center, 20 N. Plaza Blvd., Chillicothe.

