The national conversation about lead contamination in the water in Flint, Michigan sparked local school administrators to test water sources used by students and staff.
Lead enters the drinking supply through plumbing materials – and exposure to lead can cause a number of health problems, particularly in children age 6 and younger, from learning and hearing difficulties to organ damage. High lead levels can harm the fetuses of pregnant women, causing lower birth rate and slower physical and mental development. In adults, high lead levels have been linked to increased blood pressure.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Water Drinking Act has a Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). The LCR action level for lead in drinking water is 0.015 mg/L or 15 ppb (parts per billion).
Many school district tested water sources in August. Some tests were conducted internally while other districts hired outside testing companies. Some districts have completed lead testing, have the results and are working on remedies, while others are still testing or awaiting results. The following is what district representatives told The American about lead testing in their schools.
School District of Clayton
Clayton’s school district hired a contractor to test faucets and drinking fountains for lead contamination in all district’s facilities. The St. Louis testing firm, Professional Environmental Engineers began collecting samples on Aug. 31 in the three elementary schools and at the Family Center and will work their way through Wydown Middle School, Clayton High School and the rest of the District’s buildings over the course of the next two to three weeks, according to a website statement.
“We are in the process of finishing up testing in all of our buildings. We expect to have the final report in a few weeks. Obviously, we will take immediate action to replace any contaminated pipes or fixtures,” said Chris Tennill, chief communications officer.
Affton School District
“Affton School District tested various water supplies for lead contamination at all of our facilities. These tests were done by Environmental Operations on August 25, 2016, and all test spots at our schools were well below the acceptable limit,” said Erica Chandler, community relations director.
Ferguson-Florissant School District
“Testing of water in the Ferguson-Florissant School District confirms that water is safe,” said Charlene Goston, communications specialist. “Testing for lead and pesticides were performed in all district buildings Aug. 23 through Sept. 12. Tests were conducted internally and performed by a lead professional licensed plumber and supervisor to ensure testing was conducted consistently and accurately. All test results were negative.”
Hazelwood School District
Water in Hazelwood School District were tested in August and came back clean. It contracted with John Jurgiel & Associates to conduct testing.
“The conclusion of the report indicated that in 32 of our schools, the laboratory could not detect the presence of any lead,” said Kimberly G. McKenzie, director of communications. “In one school, Armstrong Elementary, a very slight amount of lead was detected, but it was far below the limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency for lead in drinking water. Because this level is below the EPA guideline, no further action is recommended by the EPA.”
Jennings School District
Jennings School District tested its schools in August and September.
“Please know that all of our water fountains are lead free and below the levels by all standards,” said Art McCoy, superintendent. “We did do their testing and we are below 0.001 to 0.000 at all water fountains. The organization that did the testing is named Eklab Service Environmental Laboratory.”
Ladue School District
Ladue School District had the water in all of its buildings tested by Farmer Environmental Services, LLC on Sept. 7-8.
“The conclusion on the final full report states the following: ‘All sample results had detections of lead below the federal and state action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb). No further action is recommended at this time,’” said Susan Downing, director of communications. “In fact, no faucet or water fountain tested higher than 2.9 ppb, and the vast majority were under 1.0 ppb.”
Maplewood Richmond Heights School District
“MRH is currently beginning the process of reviewing companies and requesting bids for future water testing at our three campuses,” said Brian Adkisson, director of communications. “This is part of our ongoing facilities review and planning.”
Lindbergh Schools
“Our employees took the samples and Tek Lab is processing the results,” Beth Johnston, communications director, said. “We are testing all buildings in Lindbergh Schools, but have not yet received the results.”
Johnston added that Lindbergh tested every school in 2004, and those results came back negative. “However, we feel it is important to test again as a reassurance for our district families.”
Mehlville School District
SCI Engineering handled the testing of water for lead in all Mehlville district school buildings. John Wolff, director of communications and public relations, said, “15 parts per billion is the standard … everything was far below that level, except one faucet in the Oakville Middle School cafeteria, which had a lead level of 15.9 parts per billion.
The faucet was replaced … the water at that faucet is being retested right now and it will not be used until it passes the lead test.”
Normandy Schools Collaborative
We conducted testing earlier this year after the situation in Flint hit the news. Our tests came back negative for lead.
Sharifah Sims Williams, communications director
Parkway School District
“The Parkway School District is in the process of testing our water faucets and sinks and we expect to finish by November 1. We have 28 schools, so as you can imagine, there are a lot of faucets/sinks. Of course, we will take immediate action to repair or replace equipment that has an unacceptable level of lead.”
Cathy Kelly, communications coordinator
Pattonville School District
City Design Group is testing water for Pattonville School District.
“We’re in the middle of testing our schools and will take immediate action to fix any issues that may arise,” said Mickey Schoonover, director of School-Community Relations.
Ritenour School District
The district posted a letter on its website dated Sept. 21 to Ritenour families from Superintendent Chris Kilbride about its school lead testing. It reads in part:
“I am pleased to inform you that the test results showed that water in all of our buildings is safe, with levels well under the minimum safe standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
The district contracted with from John A. Jurgiel & Associates, Inc., who collected samples from each building on Sept. 9. The samples were tested through a certified lab that follows EPA protocols. The letter went on to say that “All of the samples had lead results less than the laboratory limit of detection of <0.0030 mg/L, which were well below the EPA limit for lead in drinking water of 0.015 mg/L.”
Saint Louis Public Schools
SLPS is in the process of repairing, replacing and retesting sinks and water fountains found to have actionable levels of lead (in The American, Sept. 1-7, 2016). Patrick Wallace, executive director of communications said, “The scheduled completion date is October 31st” unless there are unforeseen problems. “It should be noted that no sink or water fountain will be turned back on and put into use for students or staff until that sink or water fountain tests below 10 parts per billion for lead.”
School District of University City
Testing started in August 30 in the University City school district. “Every drinking fountain in every school was tested and every sink used as a drinking/common use source was tested in each building,” said Pat Washington, executive director of communications and outreach. High levels of lead were found at some water sources.
Flynn Park Elementary: one source; 37.3 ppb (sink)
Barbara C. Jordan Elementary: one source 78.8 ppb (sink)
McNair Administration Center: one source, 144 ppb (sink)
Brittany Woods Middle School: one source 28.8 ppb (sink)
University City High School: two sources. 1@ 90.1 ppb; 1@25ppb (two fountains)
Washington said PSI collected the samples and sent them to TEK in Collinsville, Illinois for analysis. She added the sources have been isolated and the district is replacing fixtures and piping in some instances and the sinks and fountains will not be used again until the water is retested and the results come back as safe.
