Lead found in water at all East Lansing schools

EAST LANSING – East Lansing Public Schools found high levels of lead in the water at all of its school buildings, including in water from at least seven faucets accessible to students, but a county health official said the health risks are low.

No drinking fountains were on the list of 31 faucets where lead levels exceeding federal standards were found. Faucets accessible to students have already been shut down, and the district has contacted the Ingham County Health Department to develop a follow-up plan, the district said in a letter to parents on Tuesday.

County Health Officer Linda Vail said there's been no rash of concentrated lead poisoning in East Lansing or anywhere else, and the risk at the school buildings is likely less than for families living in older homes that may have lead pipes or lead paint. The municipal water is fine, she said, and running the water for a couple minutes before using it — at the school or in old homes — is typically sufficient to reduce the risk, especially when it's not drinking water.

"This is an older building issue that is kind of a known issue in general,” Vail said in a phone interview.

The district tested the water shortly after turning on faucets, when lead had settled in pipes and is most concentrated in the water, Vail said. The district plans to retest, sampling water after the faucets had been running for 30 seconds and two minutes, which usually flushes any lead from the pipes.

Installing filters or replacing plumbing are other options, Vail said.

No students or staff have presented any health concerns, ELPS Superintendent Robyne Thompson said in an email to the State Journal, but she said students can be tested at the health department or their family physician for lead concerns.

Two classroom sinks at Glencairn Elementary, one classroom sink each at Pinecrest and Whitehills elementary schools, girls’ bathroom sinks at Donley Elementary and Glencairn, and a unisex bathroom sink at MacDonald Middle School were among those facilities where lead levels exceeding  the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “action level” of 0.015 milligrams per liter (mg/L) were found in recent sampling, the district said.

Elevated lead was also found in kitchen sinks used for washing dishes or washing hands at the Pinecrest and MacDonald facilities, the letter said.

Other water samples with too much lead were found in custodial, mechanical or storage rooms; unused classroom sinks at MacDonald; and an unused wood shop at the high school. A men’s room for faculty at Marble Elementary also tested positive for high lead levels, the letter said.

The district on Wednesday posted test results online of the more than 1,000 water samples taken from its school buildings. Lead levels ranged from well under the federal action level of 0.015 mg/l to more than 0.60 mg/l.

The highest lead levels were found in samples from the men's faculty bathroom sink at Marble (0.61 mg/l), a custodial room at Pinecrest (0.40 mg/l), a custodial room at Donley (0.18 mg/l), a girls' bathroom sink at Glencairn (0.16 mg/l), a classroom sink at Glencairn (0.13 mg/l) and a custodial room sink at Pinecrest (0.12 mg/l).

Asked via email how the district was responding, Thompson said officials are communicating with families. Thompson said in another email she would be unavailable Wednesday to answer follow-up questions.

The federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says there is no safe lead level for children.

Without regulation, some schools scrambling to test for lead

Prolonged exposure to lead “can affect nearly every system in the body,” the CDC says, but the metal often found in old plumbing may remain an unknown culprit because it presents no obvious symptoms. Young children exposed to lead can exhibit behavioral problems and learning disabilities.

East Lansing’s hunt for lead in its water system began in January, when someone noticed a small sticker above a faucet at Glencairn saying the water should be flushed for five minutes each day to reduce lead levels. Samples taken from that sink revealed lead levels of 0.24 mg/L and 0.54 mg/l.

On March 18 and 19 and April 1 and 2, officials from Materials Testing Consultants Inc. — a Grand Rapids company working on a $26,000 contract for the district — took more than 1,000 water samples at the schools.  Red Cedar Elementary, closed since summer 2014, was not tested because the district prioritized occupied buildings.

ELPS is not alone in its lead hunt, or its findings. Lansing School District found too-high lead levels in six of its buildings earlier this year, for example, and school districts across the region have scrambled to test for lead in the wake of the ongoing Flint water crisis.

Lead details for Lansing schools released

But no local school districts regularly tested their water supplies before the Flint crisis, the State Journal reported in February, because schools, day care centers and other facilities are not required to test their water if they use a municipal water supply. Half the area districts told the LSJ at the time that they still have no plans for broad testing.

In its latest report in 2013, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services said 0.1% of Ingham County kids younger than six had confirmed lead levels in their blood near or higher than the CDC's "level of concern," compared to 0.44% of all Michigan children. No children in Clinton or Eaton counties tested that high, according to the report, which only examined blood levels of young children.

LSJ reporter Ken Palmer contributed to this report. Contact Justin A. Hinkley at (517) 377-1195 or jhinkley@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter@JustinHinkley. Sign up for his email newsletter, SoM Weekly, at on.lsj.com/somsignup.

Elevated lead levels found

Elevated lead levels were found in water samples at the following East Lansing Public Schools facilities:

• Donley Elementary: Girls' bathroom sink, mechanical/custodial room, library storage room sink
• Glencairn Elementary: Mechanical/custodial room, girls' bathroom sink, M. Foster classroom sink, K. Nordquist classroom sink
• Marble Elementary: Faculty mens' bathroom sink
• Pinecrest Elementary: Multi-purpose storage room sink, kitchen three-compartment sink, two mechanical/custodial rooms, Z. Konett classroom sink, library storage room sink
• Whitehills Elementary: S. Wagner classroom sink
• MacDonald Middle School: Unisex bathroom sink, mechanical/custodial room, two kitchen sinks to wash hands, kitchen three-compartment sink, five unused sinks in V. Watson classroom, R. Voigt storage room sink not used, S. Jackson storage room sink not used
• High School: Three mechanical/custodial rooms, unused wood shop room

Source: East Lansing Public Schools letter to parents addressed April 19.