Moore Schools probes Aberdeen Elementary environmental risks after long-buried email surfaces

Moore Schools released an email to former Executive Officer of Operations John Birath about Aberdeen Elementary School’s potential environmental hazards at the Nov. 24 Construction and Maintenance Committee meeting.

It has been called a Superfund site because of the property’s past use. Read details here.

Member David Hensley said the May 12, 2017 email sent to the school board from Building and Earth had not been sent to school board members or released to the public. He made copies for the committee members, the attending public and media.

The release of information came after a citizen’s recent email triggered the school district to ask the state environmental protection agency to investigate and determine if the school’s site was safe and if it needed continued monitoring, as suggested by the 2017 email.

“We’re doing the responsible thing,” Hensley said about the environmental investigation at the elementary school.

Superintendent Tim Locklair said they did not use well water at the elementary school.

“I lived in Niagra Falls, New York and saw plenty of people get sick and they weren’t drinking well water either,” attending citizen Hammond Bennett said about the well-known environmental health hazards in that area.

In other news, the committee approved a resolution to ask Aberdeen to commit to providing a traffic light at the Farrell and Sandhpit Road intersection to improve traffic safety.

Nov. 24, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers

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