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19 Schools have too much lead, tests show; Glen Burnie High School water results indicate high numbers

Capital - 8/13/2018

At least 19 Anne Arundel County public schools have unacceptably high levels of lead in their water, according to results from the first tests conducted under a new state law.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no safe level of lead exposure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends water be shut off at any faucet where lead levels exceed 20 parts per billion.

At Glen Burnie High School, 71 water outlets tested above that level.

Other results available so far show:

Brooklyn Park Elementary (23), Sunset Elementary (14), Hilltop Elementary (13), Overlook Elementary (10), Park Elementary (10), Belle Grove Elementary (eight), Linthicum Elementary (five), Solley Elementary (five), Oakwood Elementary (three), Marley Glen Special Elementary (four), George Cromwell Elementary, Glendale Elementary, Richard Henry Lee Elementary, Woodside Elementary (two each), Ferndale Elementary, North Glen Elementary and Point Pleasant Elementary (one each).

High Point Elementary School - which is having all of its pipes replaced as part of an ongoing renovation - had 13 sites test above the EPA threshold.

The test results caused some parents and an elected official to express concern for students' health and renewed calls for the county's aging schools - particularly in Glen Burnie - to be replaced.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools spokesman Bob Mosier said water has been shut off at every faucet, spigot and fountain with elevated lead levels. He said the system tested water in 33 of its schools and had results back for 23, but last week had posted detailed results from eight. On Saturday, Mosier said all of the available results are now posted on the school system's website at www.aacps.org/watertestresults.

The documents that posted Friday afternoon showed some water samples were taken as early as March. Mosier said some of the affected schools started contacting parents before the end of this past academic year.

On Aug. 6, Glen Burnie High School sent an email to parents explaining that "252 water samples were collected" there on April 25.

"Of these, 71 had levels of lead exceeding the action level of 20 parts per billion (ppb) for lead in drinking water in school buildings," said the email, which was forwarded to The Capital.

The Glen Burnie High samples were collected and analyzed by Martel Laboratories JDS Inc., a private lab in Baltimore. The lab compiled the results on July 30, documents show. The lab declined to discuss its work for the county school system. Mosier said Martel was the only lab the county hired to test lead levels.

Mosier said the school system has tested 2,487 water outlets - including drinking fountains, sinks, exterior hose hookups and more.

Of those, he said, 190 showed elevated lead levels. Of the 190, he said, 26 could have been used for drinking - about 1 percent of the tested water outlets.

At Glen Burnie High School, Mosier said two of the 71 affected water outlets could be used for drinking.

"Any interior outlet that shows a high level, we are replacing the fixtures and then we were going to retest," Mosier said. For "exterior outlets, we are posting signs to remind people not to drink that water."

He said the system was doing more than the law required by testing faucets in nonpublic places, such as those in custodial closets.

The testing was required by legislation approved by the Maryland General Assembly last year. Del. Mark Chang, D-Glen Burnie, called the lead levels an "urgent matter."

"It's very alarming to hear about the test results and it shows the importance of immediate reaction," Chang said. "It needs to be addressed."

Previously, schools were not required to test lead levels in water. The new law required the first tests to be completed by July 1, after the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Maryland State Department of Education, the Department of General Services and Maryland Occupational Safety and Health wrote regulations. The regulations mandated schools built before 1988 be tested by July 1; those built more recently have until July 2019 or July 2020.

New buildings must be tested within 12 months of being occupied, the regulations state. Water must be retested every three years, and the tests must be conducted when school is in session.

Schools can delay testing if they've recently conducted a test that meets the state's standards and resulted in a reading that was below 20 parts per billion. Schools can get out of testing altogether if they tested their water within the past five years and lead levels were lower than 5 parts per billion, if only bottled water is used for drinking and food prep at the school or if the building's plumbing is completely lead-free.

Lead gets into drinking water through "corrosion of plumbing products containing lead," according to the EPA. Federal law banned the use of lead in new plumbing or repairs in 1986 and in 1988 the federal Lead Contamination Control Act was passed to identify and reduce lead in drinking water at schools.

Children are especially susceptible to lead poisoning, which studies have shown can be deadly. Or, it could result in an array of negative health affects including reduced IQ, impaired growth, hearing loss and severe neurological problems.

Dr. Stanley Schaffer, medical director at the Western New York Lead Poisoning Resource Center, said it's not uncommon to find lead in the water at schools.

"School faucets can, especially if they're old, can have a lot of lead," Schaffer said. "It just deteriorates over time."

And while lead exposure can potentially be especially harmful to children, he said parents should keep the proper perspective.

"Unless someone is drinking a large amount of water from a school water fountain, it probably isn't much of an issue," Schaffer said.

Cassandra Skinner, a 1994 graduate of Glen Burnie High School, said the water tasted funny when she was a student. She wasn't surprised when her kids - one graduated in June and five more are still enrolled - came home saying the same thing.

"When they do get drinks of water from the fountain they said it tasted funny and I told them to stay away from it," Skinner said. "The school has got a failing infrastructure, and has for quite some time."

The school's main building, still in use, was completed in 1932. Several others have since been built on campus.

Skinner, 40, said she appreciates the history, but not at the potential expense of her kids' health.

"There are some buildings that really just need to be gutted completely," she said.

Credit: By Alexander Pyles - Staff writer