BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Additional water testing at Greendale Elementary School has revealed other sites with elevated lead levels, Washington County Superintendent Keith Perrigan wrote in an email to parents this week.
The Washington County Service Authority previously tested five fixtures at every school -- at least two fixtures in the kitchens and 2 or more water fountains in various locations throughout the school -- and found four schools had levels requiring additional review.
Additional testing at Greendale is now complete. It found 52 fixtures tested non-detect [no lead], eight fixtures tested less than 10 ppb and 17 fixtures tested above 10 ppb, with all but four drinking fountains listed as non-detect.
"Many of the elevated readings came from fixtures not needed for day-to-day school operations. One fixture tested extremely high and we believe that could be because the classroom sink has not been used for an extended period of time," Perrigan wrote. "We will replace that fixture and test again before considering future use.
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"We are replacing the sink in the kitchen that initially tested above 10 ppb and will retest again before returning that sink to service. Other next steps are to determine and troubleshoot whether the elevated testing numbers are due to the fixture itself, or if it is a result of the plumbing in the walls. Those fixtures will remain turned off until further notice. It is possible that sinks that are no longer used or needed will be removed from future service. We have been given clearance to use all points of contact that have returned "non-detect" results," Perrigan wrote.
Only fixtures that tested non-detect at the other schools are available for cooking purposes at these schools, which is above and beyond the protocols recommended by the EPA, he wrote.
Drinking fountains were shut off and the system has provided bottled water for students and staff.
"We are also installing a new water cooler at all schools in our division. This water cooler is equipped with five different filters that are designed to remove lead and other impurities," Perrigan wrote.
More testing has taken place at the four schools that also saw elevated results. Once those test results are complete, we will conduct additional tests at the remaining 11 schools in our division, he wrote.
The new Greendale testing results and additional information which includes an FAQ, and a helpful flyer can be found at this link on our website: https://www.wcs.k12.va.us/documents/washington-county-service-authority-information/722977
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