Contracts are in place for a project that will test the wastewater of public schools in Missouri for signs of fentanyl and other drug use.
The Missouri Department of Public Safety has been negotiating with Mighty Good Solutions DBA Stercus Bioanalytics, and the Missouri-based company is now the contractor on a $7 million statewide project.
The project is planned to test the wastewater of 12 schools around Missouri for drug use and was touted by Gov. Mike Kehoe in January.
“In an effort to identify areas of high fentanyl use in schools across the state, we are including $4 million in investment for fentanyl testing in wastewater systems at schools,” Kehoe said during his first State of the State address in January.
An additional $3 million was allocated to the project to fund wastewater testing involving law enforcement efforts. The project was then moved from the Missouri Department of Health and Human services to the Department of Public Safety, Mike O’Connell, public safety communications director, said in an email.
“I believe that at that point, the decision was made to move the whole program to DPS,” O’Connell said.
Last month, Missouri school superintendents received emails asking them to notify the agency if they are interested in enrolling in the wastewater test program, O’Connell said.
In the email sent to superintendents and obtained by the Missourian, the program is said to include ongoing weekly testing that will provide insights into short- and long-term trends.
“Through the collection of one small wastewater sample per week, schools will receive near real-time insights into local substance misuse trends at no cost and with no additional responsibilities for your staff,” said Mark James, director of the Department of Public Safety in the email.
The project dates are not yet set, but the email asks that superintendents request inclusion in the program by this week, adding that the data from the testing may be used to shape initiatives that attempt to counteract drug use.
Opioid overdose is the leading cause of death for those aged 18 to 44 in Missouri, according to the Health and Human Services website.
The project had received $2 million in funding from former Gov. Mike Parson in his 2025 budget. No wastewater testing in schools has taken place yet.
The company in charge of testing, Mighty Good Solutions, says on their website, “By analyzing wastewater for specific biomarkers, we provide governments with powerful tools to detect narcotics prevalence, understand usage patterns, and identify trends — all through anonymous, macro-level data.”
Plans for testing don’t give specific details on how the Department of Public Safety will use the data to help combat opioid usage. Other states have been in conversations with the same company, and Mississippi lawmakers are currently considering them for wastewater testing.
