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Henry County residents are continuing to voice their concerns on the heels of multiple testing reports revealing cancerous chemicals in the soil and water.
KSHB 41 News has been covering this issue since we first learned about it in January. According to independent tests, hexavalent chromium, lead and arsenic were found at a local school district and in Henry County lakes.
Multiple lawsuits allege Evergy mishandled fly ash at its Montrose facility and is at fault. Evergy has denied those claims.
Davis R-12 School District, government leaders, Evergy and even neighbors themselves have done testing in Henry County. So far, there have been at least five tests. Our KSHB 41 News I-Team requested records of the chemical contaminant testing.
But there hasn't been a lot of trust in the testing methods from either side. Evergy's tests claim there are no cancerous chemicals in the area, but three separate tests say otherwise.
"I didn't even know what the stuff was until this came up," neighbor Josiah Town said. "It wasn't even a thought in people's minds."
Town is one of the many Henry County residents worried about chemical contaminants in his community.
"It's definitely concerning when you have your little ones playing in the dirt and stuff," Town said.
Testing on his farm revealed hexavalent chromium levels at 6.845 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). That's 600% more than the EPA's accepted amount of 0.95 mg/kg.
"Is the rest of the farm contaminated or is it just those areas?" Town said. "We don't know at this point, but it's definitely something that we're paying attention to and wanting to make sure our kids don't get exposed to poison unnecessarily."
Town's testing is a part of the first round of reports that came from the Triangle Environmental Group. That testing showed even higher chromium levels at the Davis R-12 School District of up to 17.7 mg/kg. That's a 1,700% increase over the EPA's accepted amount.
Another test from Occu-Tech, at the request of the school district, showed contaminant levels above the reporting limits in the soil and on the playground.
"Nobody wants to send their little kids to some place where they're taking that kind of a risk," Henry County North Commissioner Mark Larson said.
The EPA limit for hexavalent chromium in water is 0.00010 milligrams per liter. The county's testing from Sunbelt Environmental Services found the cancerous chemicals in Montrose and Truman Lake at 1,100% higher than the EPA's accepted limits, detected at 0.00120 milligrams per liter.
"I know for me, my brother and my sister, we usually do a boat [on the lake] every year," Chace Larson said. "We're not so sure we're going to do it this year."
The exact levels of hexavalent chromium vary among the three tests from Triangle, Occu-Tech and Sunbelt. However, all are detected above Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and EPA accepted levels.
Evergy's testing at the school and their Montrose landfill facility did not detect the chemical at all. Missouri DNR samples from January also showed no detection.
Futher DNR testing in March then showed hexavalent chromium at 0.54 mg/kg at the school, well within the EPA's accepted limits.
"Even what maybe the EPA and DNR say is a safe level, it may be safe, but the question is for how long is it going to be safe?" Mark Larson said.
Commissioner Larson and other community members have been hesitant to trust DNR's and Evergy's testing, as the energy company is accused as mishandling coal by-products in two separate lawsuits.
Coal by-products are known for producing hexavalent chromium.
None of the tests have connected the chemical levels to Evergy's Montrose facility.
"The Sunbelt Environmental Services report is not credible and contains obvious errors," an Evergy spokesperson said in a statement. "The report fails to demonstrate hexavalent chromium in any concerning amount, fails to show any risk to human health, and fails to connect any result to any Evergy operations. None of the sampling results provided by Sunbelt, Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), Triangle, or Occu-Tec suggest any connection between the sites that were tested and Evergy’s operations."
Henry County leaders told KSHB 41 News they are working to set up a meeting between Missouri DNR and Evergy to find out the next steps.
"This is home, I don't want to leave," Chace Larson said. "I have no intentions of leaving, but that statement only stands true as long as my kids are safe."
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