PIKETON, Ohio (WCMH) — Fears of radiological contamination in and around Pike County have one of Ohio’s elected leaders taking action.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown said Monday he is monitoring the situation in Pike County closely.

Brown said Scioto Valley Local Schools District leaders made the right move in closing the Zahn’s Corner Middle School in May.

Independent testing found enriched uranium in the school. Nearby U.S. Department of Energy monitors also detected neptunium 237, as well as other radiological elements in the air near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in the area.

The facility produced enriched uranium from 1954 to 2001.

While the DOE has agreed to pay for independent third-party testing in the area, Brown said he has unsuccessfully tried urging President Trump to order the DOE to do more in making the community safe.

“This is a case where, for whatever reason, President Trump has shown no interest and if he shows no interest, it’s awful hard to get the Department of Energy to do its job, but we’re going to keep pushing him and we’re going to keep pushing the Department of Energy,” Brown said.

The DOE issued a statement late in the afternoon Monday, standing by it’s stance that there is no threat to the public.

The statement reads:

“The Department is committed to the health and safety of the Piketon community. All previous data has indicated that there is no threat to the public’s safety. In light of the recent concerns of the community surrounding the closure of Zahn’s Corner Middle School, Secretary Perry sent a technical team from the world class National Labs to Piketon to take a comprehensive sampling of the school. That data is now under evaluation and will be released soon.”

U.S. Department of Energy

The White House declined to comment on the Piketon situation.