Elevated lead levels found at Lakewood school - #lakewoodnews

Jeffco Public Schools announced on June 16 two schools, Slater Elementary in Lakewood and Edgewater Elementary in Edgewater, have elevated lead levels at several drinking water sources.According to information provided by Diana M. Wilson, chief communications officer with the district, of 39 samples at Edgewater, two locations had high lead levels: a sink in the library storage room and a drinking fountain in a temporary building that is currently used for storage.Of 51 samples at Slater Elementary, eight locations showed elevated levels: the sink in the library storage room, the sink in classroom No. 47 (Ms. Martin), sink in classroom No. 49 (Ms. Kinner), hand washing sink in the kitchen, drinking fountain in classroom No. 01 (Ms. McKaig and Ms. Bolton), the drinking fountain in the hallway near the teacher's lounge, the drinking fountain in the cafeteria and the drinking fountain in the hallway near the library.Wilson said The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests any reading over 15 parts per billion (ppb) needs remediation. Most of the tests indicated levels slightly over that amount, though the sink in classroom No. 47 and the sink in the library storage room at Slater had readings of between 100 and 120 ppb.Wilson said its highly unlikely any students have been adversely affected by the lead, since the water samples were just a little over the acceptable levels.The EPA warns that there is no known safe level of lead."We shut off the water to both facilities while we address this with community partners, which will be done before school starts again in August," she said. "Edgewater was being used for a summer program, but the water sources with lead were not being used by students."Water companies, Jefferson County Public Health, local municipalities, and others have been informed and they have offered resources to help mitigate the lead presence before school starts in August, a release from the district said."The initial plan was to work our way through all our schools in the next year," said Kim Brogan, JPS Director of Environmental Services, in a statement. "Now that we have results showing elevated lead levels in some drinking sources, we will accelerate our testing and work towards testing all drinking water sources and fixing any issues before school starts in August. If remediation is not completed by then, the drinking sources with elevated levels will be disconnected and not used. Bottled water will be provided if needed."The district started testing lead levels in schools two weeks ago, in response to finding elevated levels at an Arvada Headstart building that was previously owned by Jeffco Schools. Random testing has been the norm for the district, and there is no requirement to test drinking water for lead in schools, Wilson said. Despite these facts, the environmental staff developed a plan to test all JPS facilities in the next year to ensure student and staff health and safety.Information about the lead levels was sent to student families, including reccomendations that anyone who has questions or concerns regarding a child's exposure to lead should contact their primary doctor to set up an appointment for a lead exposure screening.Around 69 percent of Jeffco facilities are 29 to 68 years old, so Wilson warned more schools could see high levels of lead."We want the public to know about this and that we're fixing it, in case there are any concerns," she said. "It could be an issue, but we're dealing with it."

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