ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo–Despite assertions from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the contrary, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said Wednesday that he believes the agency has the authority it needs to carry out further testing for radioactive materials in the Hazelwood School District.

The Hazelwood Board of Education asked the federal government late last year to test all district property in the wake of concerns raised by one of three sets of tests done at Jana Elementary School in Florissant. Two follow-up sets of tests, one done by the Army Corps of Engineers and the other one paid for by the district, said the school was safe.

Students and staff have been out of the building since the first test results were revealed and have been in other district buildings since November.

The Army Corps of Engineers said last week it needs an act of Congress to expand its scope and fund further testing, while saying it was working to find alternatives to help the district. 

In an interview with Spectrum News, Hawley said he thinks the agency has the authority it needs.

“Nothing against the Army Corps but I have heard this tune a million times and it's always from the federal bureaucracy why they can’t do this or they can’t do that. They move real fast when they want to do something, when they don’t want to do it, they give you a song and dance about why they can’t,” Hawley said.

“What needs to happen here is the President needs to declare an emergency and needs to unlock federal funds for this district. The federal government caused this problem, let’s just be clear about this, this is federal nuclear waste that has contaminated the surrounding area if not the school so the federal government needs to fix it,” he added.

Asked to respond to Hawley, an Army Corps spokesman referred to the agency’s previous comments.

Communication between the district and the Army Corps of Engineers earlier this month indicated potential involvement from the U.S. Department of Energy, but that department told Spectrum News it would defer to the Army Corps of Engineers.