By Elizabeth Gresosky
A Catholic school in Niagara Falls, New York is the site of an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for radiation levels, according to the National Catholic Register.
The school property is about eight miles from a World War II nuclear disposal site, but a 1986 report from the US Department of Energy claims that the school property did not host any material from that specific location – the Niagara Falls Storage Site, which is where the United States government produced its first nuclear bombs.
The decades-old report identified 100 properties in the surrounding area with elevated radiation levels and about one third of them had been remediated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but the school property was not among this group, according to WIVB 4.
Investigators from both the state and the EPA tested the property of the Catholic Academy of Niagara Falls in September and found radiation levels “not clearly below our levels of concern and not clearly above them,” according to a spokesperson from the federal agency.
The property is also home to the Prince of Peace parish.
While the agency claims that it does not have “any reason to believe there is significant radiological material based on screening to date,” they did identify areas with “slightly elevated” levels requiring further sampling.
A local parent was recently escorted from the school by security after attempting to meet with the principal regarding the findings. The principal did not inform parents that the testing was scheduled, but did send out a notice with the results.
Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino said the reports are “unsettling” but urged patience in waiting for further evaluation from government agencies.
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