Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) traveled to the St. Louis region where he visited the Jana Elementary School and Coldwater Creek, areas both affected by decades-old nuclear waste. During a rally with advocates from the community, Senator Hawley called on the federal government to authorize a fund for St. Louis residents who fell victim to radioactive contamination due to bureaucratic negligence and vowed to do everything in his power to bring the community justice.
“Now we have got to put in place this fund to make whole every person who has been ill and who has suffered any kind of negative consequence from this," said Senator Hawley. [...] "The federal government has done this before for other victims of their nuclear programs."
“Your government asked you to bear the brunt of a nuclear program that they never owned up to and its effects, and now it’s time that they gave you some basic justice for what they have done,” Senator Hawley concluded.
This is Jana Elementary in Florissant this morning. Notice the slogan. The inside of this school is now empty - thanks to federal negligence pic.twitter.com/UncznST8Pl
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 13, 2023
Here Jana sits empty and abandoned - the neighborhood kids shipped off to other schools - with a contaminated creek running right by it pic.twitter.com/1efriiZ0A2
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 13, 2023
And here’s Coldwater Creek. Where generations of St. Louis area kids have played. But contaminated, we now know, since 1949 - all by the US government pic.twitter.com/pU7gCXUGNr
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 13, 2023
An honor to be with @Justmomsstl @DawnChapmanSTL to demand justice for the residents of St. Louis poisoned by the negligence of the federal government pic.twitter.com/5BODPVHu0M
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 13, 2023
Background
Senator Hawley has consistently advocated on behalf of the Coldwater Creek community. Yesterday, Senator Hawley spoke on the Senate floor where he announced new legislation to create a fund for the victims of radioactive contamination in the St. Louis region.
Senator Hawley's legislation mandating the clean up of Jana Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District and radioactive waste testing recently passed the U.S. Senate. Biden's Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also vowed to support it.
In March, Senator Hawley delivered remarks on the Senate floor and attempted to unanimously pass his legislation to clean up Jana Elementary School and test the surrounding buildings in the Hazelwood School District, but it was blocked.
In early March, Senator Hawley called out the Biden Administration for its lack of action on the Jana Elementary School cleanup.
In February, Senator Hawley introduced the Justice for Jana Elementary Act following an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing where he pushed the DOE for answers on the radioactive waste found at the school.
In January, Senator Hawley and Congresswoman Cori Bush sent a letter to USACE Lieutenant General Spellmon calling for additional radioactive testing of Hazelwood School District's properties.
Last October, Senator Hawley demanded that USACE conduct radioactive testing at Jana Elementary School following reports of contamination, and called on President Biden to declare a federal emergency and make aid available for students and families.