It was brought to the District’s attention in August of 2022 that there were several Warren Hills staff members who had been diagnosed with cancer in recent years. We quickly reached out to the team at the Children’s Mercy Environmental Health Program, the State of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MDHSS) and to the Clay County Public Health Center (CCPHC) to seek their guidance. All three of these organizations were quick to engage and assist and made known that the inquiry would be conducted in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for Investigating Suspected Cancer Clusters. The District was asked to provide de-personalized, anonymized data (to ensure compliance with HIPAA) of those diagnosed with cancer so that the epidemiology teams at CCPHC and MDHSS could commence an inquiry. On October 3, 2022, the District was informed by MDHSS and CCPHC that they had completed their analysis and found that "there is no evidence to suggest that the breast cancer rate at Warren Hills is higher than expected, which means no further environmental investigation is warranted." They concluded that there is no cancer cluster at Warren Hills and considered the matter closed. This information was shared with the Warren Hills team in writing and also at a meeting held with Warren Hills staff in late November of 2022.
2022 CCPHC Report
CDC Guidelines
Prior to receiving the CCPHC report in October, 2022, the District commissioned Axiom Environmental Strategies in September to conduct an air quality test and a water quality test at Warren Hills. In both cases, Axiom determined that there were no air or water quality issues of concern and no remediation actions were required. More specifically, no elevated mold counts were found in the building and the water test met the EPA's standard for safe drinking water (the water test also met the recently passed but not in effect State of Missouri “Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act”).
Axiom Water Quality Report
Axiom Air Quality Report
In the fall of 2022, the District also contacted the owner of the on-site cell tower to learn more details and gather information about the tower. It was shared that the tower does include 5G technology systems and that T-Mobile is the primary carrier within the tower. We understand that the tower is inspected annually to identify any maintenance issues and to ensure that the tower is structurally safe. The FCC closely regulates this (and all) antenna systems for compliance to federal standards. In May of 2023, the District received a Site Compliance Report with respect to the Warren Hills tower that was prepared by SiteSafe, LLC. The report concluded that the tower and associated equipment were in full compliance with FCC Rules and Regulations.
SiteSafe Report
In January of 2024, the District was made aware of a staff concern about the air quality in their classroom. Consistent with LPS protocol, our team first conducted a visual inspection of the area and then engaged Children’s Mercy Hospital Environmental Health Program to conduct an air quality test of the classroom and adjacent areas. The report concluded that there were no issues of concern and no remediation steps were deemed necessary.
Children's Mercy EHP Report
