FLORISSANT, Mo. – People living in the Cades Cove neighborhood of Florissant expressed concerns over the potential relocation for six homeowners affected by radioactive contamination.

“I’m terribly insecure. I’m scared. Am I safe to drink the water?” Krystal George said.

George lives next to Coldwater Creek. The Army Corps of Engineers has several poles behind her property where they are testing for radioactive contamination.

“We’re going to go back and continue sampling those areas just to refine our plan and to confirm our plan and confirm that there is nothing anywhere else. It goes to where we’ve defined it in these properties and that’s it,” Colonel Andy Pannier, commander of St. Louis District of Army Corps of Engineers, said.

According to Pannier, there are currently seven properties with contamination, six of those are homes.

“It’s not a buyout. That would mean we would own the property. In this case, we’re going to remove the homes, they’ll be compensated for the value of that home, we’ll assist them to relocate to a new home wherever they’re choosing to do this,” he said. “Then we’ll remediate the entirety of the property, restore it back, put the dirt back and grass back and everything and then the homeowner will still retain ownership of that property.”

George’s concern is the cut off at the sixth house. “This isn’t just an issue with just the six people, this is an issue that affects everybody that lives around Coldwater Creek.”

Pannier said the Army Corps of Engineers will conduct outreach in the Cades Cove neighborhood to answer questions residents may have. He said the tentative plan is to wrap up paperwork by the end of July with the six homeowners.