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Pike County Officials Await Promised Department of Energy Documents
By: Jordan Kelley
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PIKETON (WOUB) — Pike County officials and community members watched closely as Department of Energy technicians began testing for radioactive contamination inside Zahn’s Corner Middle School on Saturday.
Tensions rose once more in Piketon after the department submitted a testing proposal that was “inadequate,” according to Pike County officials.
Department representatives arrived Thursday to begin sampling on Friday, however Pike County officials did not allow sampling to begin until the plan was adjusted.
Pike County Health Commissioner Matt Brewster wrote in a Facebook post early Monday morning. that the testing was targeted at desks, tabletops, and floors “that have been cleaned almost daily since last August.”
“Sampling these items would miss the most obvious contaminated locations and would likely yield no positive detections,” Brewster said. “If you look for zeros, then you’ll find zeros.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy said the department “stands by its pledge to fund a third party assessment of the school to be conducted by an entity selected by the Piketon community.”
“It is our hope that this thorough analysis and transparent process will give the community more clarity than the Northern Arizona University report that prompted the closure of school, which was based on just 6 samples,” wrote Shaylyn Hynes in an email to media.
Local officials insisted the sampling plan be adjusted to include undisturbed locations, including the ceiling and ductwork. Once the updated plan was approved by department officials testing began around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and concluded around 7 p.m.
The county is still awaiting documentation outlining the specifics of the testing performed by the department, but did receive limited information on the air quality monitors.
“We did find out on Sunday after the sampling was complete that the sample media used were glass fiber air monitor filters,” Brewster said in a Facebook post early Tuesday morning.
The commissioner said glass fiber air monitor filters sometimes have high levels of naturally occurring uranium, which can make it difficult to detect low levels of enriched uranium.
“Hopefully, this is a non-issue but we just want to be sure,” Brewster wrote.
A total of 44 smear samples and additional air samples were collected over the weekend. The samples taken were split three ways — between the Department of Energy, the Ohio Department of Health and the Pike County Public Health District.
“Taking splits of the samples will allow the results to be confirmed against each other by three separate labs,” said Brewster.
Brewster estimates Pike County will have their results in two to four weeks.
Pike County officials were scheduled to meet with U.S. Representative Brad Wenstrup Tuesday morning to continue discussions about the contamination issues facing Piketon.