KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.
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The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) tested the water and soil in Henry County at the Davis R-XII school campus for chemical contamination.
Their results didn't show the cancer causing chemical, hexavalent chromium, but residents are still waiting for independent testing results.
Davis R-XII School District is having class at a nearby church again this week as there are still concerns with the nearby soil and water contamination levels.
"This is a super long fight," Chace Larson said. "Nothing is going to be settled any time quickly."
Larson has lived in Henry County his entire life.
He explained there is little community trust in the DNR's report, which claims the soil samples are below regional screening levels for all contaiminants except arsenic.
The report review states there was no detection of hexavalent chromium.
"I feel like that's very premature of [DNR] to put this out and basically tell the community 'you're safe' when [the results] are not comparable to the samples that were taken back in September when the ground wasn't frozen and they took samples out of wells," Larson said.
Larson is referring to the test included in a lawsuit against Evergy for allegedly mishandling hazardous waste material.
The law firm and plaintiff paid for the testing samples referred in the lawsuit.
The hazardous material is known as "fly ash" and it's deposited at Evergy's Montrose Facility, the site of a former coal power plant. Fly ash is known to cause severe health effects including cancer.
The lawsuit prompted wide spread community concerns, meetings and a class action lawsuit.
Attorneys for the Henry County class action lawsuit say there are an overwhelming amount of residents coming forward with claims of illness or impact from the fly ash allegedly coming off of the Montrose facility.
"We appreciate the preliminary testing, but it doesn't mean that those included in our class action area are safe," attorney Ken McClain said. "Any exposure to carcinogens is a danger. We will continue to investigate and represent our clients in this important case, including contamination of the ground water, not necessarily just the soil or drinking water."
Dozens of residents questioned Evergy's depositing practices and handling of fly ash at a packed community meeting on Jan. 27.
"I have a lot of pride in the community for coming together," Larson said.
KSHB 41's Isabella Ledonne reached out to Evergy for a comment on Tuesday about the DNR results.
"Evergy volunteered to participate in additional third-party testing," a spokesperson wrote. "We are working with the Henry County Commission to develop and finalize the additional testing plan. The safety of the Henry County community, and all communities where Evergy operates, remains our top priority. The Montrose facility is in full compliance with all groundwater testing required by state and federal regulations. Additionally, NDR has inspected our site multiple times, each time expressing no concerns with observed operations or dust management."
But residents like Larson still question why the DNR's test and the lawsuit's test contradict each other.
Triangle Environmental Science and Engineering's findings high levels of radium, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, lead and cobalt.
DNR's findings claim there are only high levels of arsenic, which "the Department of Health and Senior Services notes that this heavy metal does occur naturally in the background levels in Missouri," according to the report.
The report states the department is working with the Department of Health and Senior Services on public guidance for handling soil with elevated levels of arsenic, though the report does not differentiate if the chemical found is organic or inorganic arsenic.
Organic arsenic contains carbon, while inorganic arsenic does not contain carbon and is shown to be more toxic with severe health effects.
The report says the department determined there are no identifiable issues for contaminants in the county's public drinking water systems, and the water systems near the Montrose facility show levels for metals that are in compliance with standards.
Missouri DNR did not release the actual report findings, instead publishing a summary overview.
Evergy agreed to an independent test with Henry County, but those results are expected to take some time.
"Five out of those six tests are all going to come back marginally close, and the one that's going to be different is DNR," Larson said.
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