Concerns about lead in drinking water raised by high levels found in Flint, Mich., and later in Tacoma public schools have prompted North Olympic Peninsula public school districts to conduct tests.
Of the nine districts in Clallam and Jefferson counties, the two largest districts last tested several years ago, while two others are testing now.
Two more districts are preparing to test, two test every three years and one is considering adding a policy for lead testing.
Sequim has results of the first round of testing, according to a letter emailed to a district parent.
The Crescent School District is testing water for lead now, while the Chimacum and Cape Flattery districts are preparing to do so.
The Port Townsend district last tested four years ago. Port Angeles’ most recent tests were seven years ago.
The Quillayute Valley School District does not currently have a policy for testing for lead but is looking into developing one, its superintendent said.
State law does not require testing for lead in districts that obtain their water supply from municipal or public utility district sources.
But districts on well water — such as the Brinnon and Quilcene districts — must test every three years, the last time for those two districts being in 2015.
Here are reports on the Peninsula public school districts.
Port Angeles
The Port Angeles School District last tested for lead in its water in 2008-09, said Nolan Duce, director of maintenance and facilities.
At that time, “we tested for lead in every school,” Duce said, “and every school had some [samples] that didn’t pass but a lot that did.”
Some taps and faucets did not pass the first round.
“We either changed the fixtures out [or] changed the plumbing out and retested,” Duce said.
If the second samples passed muster, then no more action was taken, he said.
At locations that didn’t pass, “we would take one more look at what we could do to make them pass, and then we tested them a third time,” Duce said.
“If they failed a third time, we either disconnected the water supply to them or put a placard on it that said ‘This is a handwashing sink only, not for drinking.’ ”
Duce pointed out that “none of the drinking fountains that we currently have failed the lead test.
“They all passed.
“The ones that did fail” were mostly custodial sinks, he said.
Sequim
Sequim School District officials announced in early May that they were beginning the testing process.
Crescent
Officials in the Crescent School District in Joyce have “decided to be proactive about water testing and have made arrangements with Spectra Labs in Poulsbo to test our water” beginning this week, collecting samples today at 10 locations on campus, said Superintendent Clayton Mork.
“There are special requirements for how long water can be in the pipe, and we just need to have the personnel around to be able to do that within the allotted time period,” Mork said.
Quillayute Valley
The Quillayute Valley School District in Forks is “not testing our water at this time and do not have a protocol or policy regarding testing,” said Superintendent Diana Reaume.
However she said, “we are looking into it.”
Cape Flattery
The Cape Flattery School District is in the “process of preparing to test our water at all of our schools,” said Superintendent Kandy Ritter.
“As soon as the water test is complete, we will be reporting back to our community,” she said.
Port Townsend
Brad Taylor, Port Townsend School District director of support services, said no evidence has been found of lead contamination in the water supply.
The last tests were four years ago.
No tests are currently scheduled.
“I have been through this years ago at Northshore School District, and I think the approach we are going to be taking on it is to just start switching [aging] fixtures out and then start testing,” he said.
Brinnon, Quilcene
Unlike school districts who receive their water from a public supplier such as a city or public utility district, Brinnon and Quilcene are required by the state to test their water every three years because they draw water from their own source.
Said Joe Baisch, water manager for both districts: “We have to follow the Department of Ecology’s protocol on lead testing.”
The districts are required to test because “we have our own water systems,” Baisch said.
“If your school district is on [an outside] water system, then it is not required to do the testing like we are,” he said.
“For school districts that are in cities, it is the city’s responsibility to do this.”
In Brinnon’s case, “several years ago, we re-plumbed the whole building — removed all the old plumbing,” Baisch pointed out.
The building was small enough to make that option financially feasible, he said.
“We eliminated the pre-1985 plumbing,” he said.
“Anything soldered prior to 1985 has leaded joints. And so, the school board decided to re-plumb the building.”
Quilcene follows the same protocols, Baisch said.
“I treat the system the same way, [and] I have been doing that since 2000,” he said.
The district’s last tested for lead in 2015. Lead was not discovered above actionable levels, Baisch said.
Additional testing is set for 2018, he said.
“We are actually going to put an update on our website because this is such a big issue happening right now that we want to inform parents that everything is good,” added Alicia Johnsen, Quilcene School District secretary.
“We are doing what we are supposed to.”
Chimacum
The Chimacum School District is collaborating with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state Department of Health and the Jefferson County Public Utility District regarding testing for lead in the water, said Superintendent Rick Thompson.
“The Jefferson County Public Utility District tested for lead in the water at multiple district sites in the fall of 2004,” Thompson said.
“At the end of the spring sampling, all results indicated that the levels of lead were within state and federal guidelines.”
There is one fixture, Thompson said, located in the district maintenance building, to which signage has been placed to prevent the fixture from being used for drinking.
The district has developed an inventory of 300 eligible fixtures for testing, Thompson continued.
“In the next month, the district will develop a lead sampling plan and identify fixtures to be tested,” he said.
“The testing priorities will be fixtures which are used for drinking and cooking, such as water fountains; sinks in kitchen areas; and other locations where staff and students may access their drinking water.”
Further testing will be conducted as necessary to ensure that water is safe, Thompson said.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
