Sullied school water sparks rally

Thursday, September 04, 2008
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City parents and children rallied outside the Board of Education building yesterday, asking for more transparency and faster action as the district moves to clean up lead found in drinking water at schools this summer.

The final results of the district's voluntary lead testing program, released last month, found that 3 percent of water sources at school buildings have elevated levels of lead, even when the faucets were allowed to run for a few minutes. The federal Environmental Protection Agency lead standard for drinking water is no more than 20-parts-per-billion.

"Now what?" shouted parents, as they marched outside the Claremont Avenue building, chanting and carrying signs.

"Our experience shows that if parents do not speak up, do not organize, then the district procrastinates," said Mahmood Ketabchi, organizer of the Parents and Communities United for Education rally.

PCUE leaders demanded a timeline for the district's lead clean-up by the end of the month, creation of a BOE standing committee dedicated to environmental issues, an indoor air quality walk-through that includes parents, and a semi-annual health and safety report card for each school.

Within 30 days, the district will announce a permanent remedy to the elevated lead problem, said Roger Jones, a spokesman for the district.

Any water sources that showed elevated levels of lead were shut off and water coolers were dispatched to the schools, he added.

"We're on their side whether they understand it or not," Jones said, referring to the ralliers. "We welcome this dialogue. By no means are our doors closed."


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Parents group to rally at board of ed over water quality

by The Jersey Journal
Wednesday September 03

A parents group plans to hold a rally today in front of the Jersey City Board of Education to ask for changes in district policy in the wake of tests showing lead in some school water sources.

The rally, by the group Parents and Communities United for Education, will be from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in front of 346 Claremont Ave.

The group is asking the board to create a health and environmental safety committee that includes three parents, an "indoor air quality walk through team" including three parents and issue semi-annual health and safety report cards for each school.

Two water fountains removed from Jersey City schools after lead tests

by Lysa Chen
Wednesday August 13, 2008, 2:39 PM

The final results of the Jersey City school district's lead testing are in -- with two hallway water fountains removed from Schools 6 and 28 for elevated levels of lead, above the 20-parts-per-billion threshold.

Eighteen of 269 water sources -- at Schools 6, 7, 17, 28, 33 and 38 -- had elevated lead levels during a first-draw test, but only two water sources maintained high lead levels after being allowed to run for a few minutes before a second draw, a press release said.

A third floor hallway fountain at School 6 had 111 parts per billion for both tests, district spokesman Roger Jones said.

A water fountain at School 28 fell from 1,600 parts per billion of lead in the first draw to 93.9 parts per billion in the second draw.

Both fountains have been removed, Jones said. With testing results in for all schools and school buildings in the district, the district is now working with Garden State Environmental, the consulting company that conducted the tests, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to create a cleanup plan and may decide on a plan or timeline in the next 30 days, Jones said.

==================


Lead tests finish for school water
Thursday, August 14, 2008
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The final results of the Jersey City school district's voluntary water testing are in - with hallway water fountains removed from School 6 and School 28 for elevated levels of lead, above the 20-parts-per-billion threshold.

Eighteen of 269 water sources - at Schools 6, 7, 17, 28, 33 and 38 - had elevated lead levels during the first test in June. In the more recent test, the water was allowed to run for a few minutes before the lead was measured. Only two water sources maintained high lead levels, the district said in a statement.

A third-floor hallway fountain at School 6 had 111 parts per billion of lead for both tests, district spokesman Roger Jones said. A water fountain at School 28 fell from 1,600 parts per billion of lead in the first draw to 93.9 parts per billion in the second draw. Both fountains have been removed, Jones said.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency flagged water sources in eight schools in September 2006 as containing too much lead. It wasn't until last September, a year later, that the district performed follow-up testing.

When high lead levels were detected in that round of testing, the district decided to examine all the water sources in the entire district.

With testing results in for all schools and school buildings in the district, the district is now working with Garden State Environmental, the consulting company that conducted the tests, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to create a cleanup plan and may decide on a plan or timeline in the next 30 days, Jones said.

The district initiated a water "flushing program" in February to reduce lead from water standing in pipes.

More Jersey City schools have elevated lead levels

Monday, August 04, 2008
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Fifty-one of 257 water sources in Jersey City schools have elevated levels of lead, according to the latest results of the Jersey City school district's voluntary lead testing program.

After water is allowed to run a few minutes, sources at Schools 8, 11, 23, 24, 25, 27, 31 and 39, Liberty High School, A. Harry Moore School, and the Board of Education Administration Building - show elevated lead levels.

Garden State Environmental, the consulting firm conducting the tests, has completed sampling at all school buildings and has released results for 1,032 sources at 41 schools and school buildings.

Remaining results will be released in the next week, according to a press release.

Once all results are received, the district will follow a cleanup plan approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Less than 4 percent of the1,032 water sources showed elevated levels of lead, defined at levels above 20 parts per billion, in Garden State Environmental's second draw.

This result shows the district's "flushing program," initiated in February, works, Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps Jr. said in a press release.

The program involves custodians opening taps for a few minutes before schools open.

Latest lead test results for 5 schools

Friday, July 11, 2008
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Approximately eight percent of water sources in five Jersey City schools have elevated levels of lead, according to the latest results of the district's voluntary water testing.

After allowing water to run for a few minutes, less than two percent of the 107 water sources - from Dickinson High School, New Jersey Regional Day School, School 23 adult learning center on Sip Avenue, School 23 early childhood development center on West Side Avenue and School 37 - showed elevated levels of lead, a press release said.

One water source at one of the School 23s rose from 53.3 parts per billion of lead to 1,200 parts per billion in its second draw, and the school district replaced the cooler causing the high lead levels, said Roger Jones, school district spokesman. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines elevated levels of lead as 20 parts per billion.

These latest numbers are the sixth batch of test results released by the district as part of its voluntary participation in a federal EPA program.

Garden State Environmental, the consulting company conducting the study, has completed sampling at all school buildings and will release the remaining results this month, the release said. Results are being released in groups, since the volume of samples, over 2,000, makes lab testing time consuming, Jones said.

Quote:

First, this lead testing article is a lot better written than the other Jersey Journal lead testing articles.

Second: this level of lead contamination is not THAT high. It's comparable to the amount of lead that would enter a wine if you spent a meal drinking wine from a leaded crystal goblet.

See this Canadian health agency link.

The CDC carries an abstract of a 2004 paper indicating that no children tested who grew up in homes with tap water with lead contamination over 300 parts per billion showed signs of high blood lead levels.

On the other hand, about half of the homes involved in the study reported using a water filter.

The CDC published an addendeum with the abstract emphasizing that the people should try to eliminate any known sources of lead in children's environment.

Here's a NYT article that says drinking water lead contamination really should be under 10 parts per billion.

Third, P.S. 5 is actually a really well run school with good teachers and terrific, suburban-quality standardized test scores, and, for the most part, the kids there seem to be well-behaved. This is a case of an old school building in a city with old infrastructure, not an example of the failures of the Jersey City School District.

Conclusions:

- The level of lead from the worst water source at P.S. 5 is high, but not really THAT high, especially if it comes out of a sink, rather than a drinking fountain. Parents should be pressing to learn more but don't have to panic.

- To be prudent, the district should order lead tests for the kids at P.S. 5.

- To be prudent, the school should install a filtration system that reduces the level of lead below 10 parts per billion, or else switch to bottled water.

- No matter what is or isn't in the drinking water at P.S. 5, the school is right under the turnpike and right by a bunch of active construction zones. The district really ought to pay to test a random sample of kids for exposure to a wide range of pollutants every year, and to make the tests available for a fee for parents who are willing to pay for the tests, then order schoolwide testing if some kids in the small sample turn out to have problems.

Personally, I find it's really hard to get doctors to prescribe contamination tests, even if I'm willing to pay for the tests out of pocket. I think it would be extremely helpful if the district would arrange for the tests.

More lead found in schools' water

Monday, July 07, 2008
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Eight of 56 water sources in two more Jersey City schools have elevated levels of lead, according to the latest test results from the Jersey City Board of Education.

This number is reduced to one in 56 when water is run for a few minutes.

The school district initiated lead testing in all schools and school buildings after six elementary schools - Schools 6, 11, 23, 25, 27 and 31 - were found to have unacceptably high levels of lead in drinking water as part of the district's voluntary participation in a federal Environmental Protection Agency program.

The latest results showed that lead levels at Schools 5 and 9 ranged from 20.1 parts per billion to 173 parts per billion for "first-draw" samples taken from eight water sources. Lead levels above 20 parts per billion are considered elevated by the EPA. First draw means the water source hadn't been used for at least eight hours.

Only one water source at School 5 remained elevated during the "second draw," falling from 128 parts per billion to 54.1 parts per billion.

All eight contaminated water sources have been shut off, said Roger Jones, school district spokesman.

Garden State Environmental, the consulting company conducting the voluntary tests, has released results from 789 sources in 21 schools and has completed sampling at all school buildings.

The school district will receive the remaining test results by mid-July, a release said.

Quote:
Anyone can join. PCUE stands for Parents and COMMUNITY United for Education. The more people show up at the public meetings and get involved in putting pressure where it's needed, the more accountability we can expect.

And by the way, don'tstealmyrocks, there is more to the story about sending notes home with children than you can see from this. To begin with, understand that many parents in JC don't have a car to get around, a computer to access the internet or anything like extra time to go anywhere for almost any reason. It is, indeed, by federal mandate, the Board of Education's responsibility to maintain a healthy environment in the public schools.

You have some good ideas. Why don't you contact PCUE's lead organizer through the website. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear what you have to say.

Quote:


that's great! I didn't know about this. Thanks for letting me know. I am not a parent yet. otherwise if my kids were in school here, i'd want to have the superintendant's head! can single people join or is it just limited to parents?

Is this a JOKE?????

The way this is being handled is like make sure all students are given a letter to give to their parents alerting them of water contamination...

Well HELLO! is anyone out there????, they are giving letters to CHILDREN????


NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!

Advise parents and set up a place or several places in the city where they can go to have their children tested(FREE), advise via through the media, by mail, through letters, certified and regular, phone calls, e-mail...

Quote:That's exactly what PCUE is supporting and facilitating. Believe me, the demonstrations are robust! The media attention is critical, but I think equally important is the fact that it is (mostly) the parents and grandparents of the affected children who are speaking up. Grassroots at its best, man. They have absolutely BEEN beating down the doors to get attention. It's starting to pay off -- that's why you're starting to hear about it.

Really, hook up with PCUE's website. They're impressive.

This is infuriating. Can you imagine if the same thing happened in Millburn or Summit. The water would be tested the next day and the problem would be fixed within a week. WTF is wrong with the administration? Why aren't parents beating down the doors demanding attention to the situation?!

From my understanding ALL schools were tested.
What is happening is because the testing dates were staggered the results are also coming in piecemeal...I was watching jc cable one night and lead testing was the topic at the board meeting and from what i gathered they are going to
release a report once all the data is complete...

I would think it should be a priority that this be COMPLETE PRIOR to the REOPENING of schools in September.

This is important because the policy is students are not allowed to even bring bottled water into the buildings...What are these children to do drink contaminated water...as it will surely be revealed this has been happening as many of the buildings are OLD and the problem stems from lead plumbing pipes and not the water fountains.

Quote:

I know I'm the queen of giant typos, but I think the way the Journal writes up the lead test results is confusing.

Example: this article says tests were conducted at McNair, Ferris, etc.

Does the article mean that water outlets at each of those specific schools tested positive for lead? Or that outlets at one or more of those schools tested positive? I

s it possible, for example, that P.S. 3 and P.S. 15 have all 13 of the outlets that tested positive for lead?

Also:

- How sensitive are the tests? Are the "elevated levels" here very high, or just a little bit high? If a 3-year-year drank about a cup of the water per day, would that actually have a noticeable effect on the child's exposure to lead?

- How elevated are the lead waters compared with the water coming out of our taps, and the water coming out of our Brita filter jugs? Assuming a 3-year-old drank 3 cups of water a day from the worst fountain, would that likely increase the child's overall exposure to lead by 1 percent? 5 percent? 20 percent? 1,000 percent?

- Given that you can go to any hardware store and get lead test kits, and that this is the sort of thing you could have the kids in a science class do, why did it take so long to get these tests done? Who's directly responsible for testing, and why hasn't that person been fired?



- How

Not surprising how Dr. Epps pay raise can be so much more important than water fountains releasing high levels of lead.

Flushing?

Action should be taken immediately to replace ALL the fountains.

These children are the future of tommorrow.

Their safety and well being should be a cities top priority, at all times irregardless...

Lead poisoning hinders not only learning but impulse control.

Expect more crime if it isn't cleared up.

The children's blood should be tested as well.

They should really check the Drinking Fountains -- this is a common problem all over the country.

It is easy to change these out.

======================

Minneapolis City Hall Removes Drinking Fountains Over Lead Contamination
Water lines flushed at City Hall to reduce lead

Friday, 27 Jun 2008
Fox News
by Bill Keller and Mike Durkin

MINNEAPOLIS -- Public drinking fountains at Minneapolis City Hall have been removed after tests found excessive levels of lead contamination.

In April, employees at the city?s largest and oldest building were told some drinking fountains were being removed.

TESTING FOR LEAD

After conducting a comprehensive test of nearly 300 faucets, the city learned 42 exceeded the national standard for lead contamination.

?Of those 42, there may have been 10 drinking fountains, several ice makers, sinks, fixtures?? Jose Cervantes of the Municipal Building Commission said. ?All meet the standard today.?

OLD PLUMBING

The Municipal Building Commission says it?s not an issue of the water quality, but outdated plumbing in the 100-year-old building.

?Most of the water is great, some is not, so we're fixing that,? Mayor R.T. Rybak said. For several years, Rybak has been encouraging people to stop wasting money and resources on bottled water and start drinking from the tap.

FLUSHING THE LINES

To solve the problem, the city began a program to regularly flush the water lines. Cervantes says the flushing moves the water through the pipes so it?s not stagnant, sitting in old pipes.

The flushing has kept the lead levels in check at most locations. In places flushing didn?t work, the city is upgrading fixtures and water supply lines.

'EVERYBODY SHOULD HAVE GOOD, CLEAN WATER'

?We believe this is a city where everybody should have good clean water and it should start with city government,? Rybak said.

At Minneapolis City Hall, there are still six drinking fountains that are out of commission. All of the fixtures should be replaced by the end of the year.


http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/ ... outCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Erin Brocovich, where are you?
Is there anyone out there who is up to the task?
Sounds like a MAJOR LAWSUIT to me.

Quote:

You can stay on top of this by reading PCUE's blog. And you can get on their mailing list too to be notified of events as they occur. They have been the driving force behind making the powers that be accountable on this.

And, yes, they knew.

More Jersey City schools' water have lead

Monday, June 30, 2008

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles T. Epps, Jr. and Board President William DeRosa announced Friday that six water sources in several Jersey City public schools tested positive for elevated lead levels.

In total, 142 water sources were tested at Schools 3, 4, 14, 16 and 22 and Middle School 4.

This testing is part of plan to test all the water sources at all the schools after problems were discovered at six schools earlier this year.

To date, the Jersey City Board of Education has received results on 561 sources sampled in 19 schools.

Epps said that sampling in the remaining school buildings has been completed, and he has been advised that all of the test results will be received by mid-July.

In the schools most recently tested, six of the first-draw water samples - those that are taken after the water sources have not been used for at least 8 hours - showed elevated levels of lead in the water.

Just one of the second-draw water samples - those that are taken at the same sampling sources after the water had been allowed to run for a few minutes - showed an elevated level of lead.

In February the Jersey City Board of Education initiated a water "flushing program" in the schools that follows procedures established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to significantly reduce the amount of lead that may occur as a result of water standing in pipes.

JOURNAL STAFF

I told you, it's the lead...and this is insane!!

Do these schools have low test scores?

I mean, what else is there that we don't know.

Did they already know this?

What prompted them to do the testing and if they did know, how long did they know?

Years?

Or did this just happen, out of the blue they just decided to test the waters.

7 schools have lead in water

Monday, June 23, 2008

Jersey City public school officials have announced that 13 water outlets at seven schools tested positive for elevated levels of lead even after the water was allowed to run for a while.

Tests were conducted at McNair Academic High School, Ferris High School, Schools 3, 15, 40, and 41.

In February a water "flushing program" to let the water run for a few minutes at each water source in all the schools was initiated after elevated lead levels were found at six elementary schools - Schools 6, 25, 27, 31, 11 and 23.

The district is now conducting tests on water taps at all the schools that will be completed by July 1, officials said.

Earlier this month, school officials announced that 335 water sources in seven Jersey City public schools - Snyder High School, Schools 20, 29, 29A, 30, 34 and Academy 1 - have elevated levels of lead.

The EPA guidelines stipulate that remediation of any affected water sources should not begin until all of the test results are compiled and the EPA approves the Board of Education's remediation plan, officials said.

KEN THORBOURNE

A lead on lead in schools

Parents want info ASAP; Board of Ed gives results

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 06/14/2008


LEADING THE SCHOOLS? ? Jersey City School Superintendent Dr. Epps is the target of parents who wants lead testing in schools done sooner.

Parents of Jersey City schoolchildren want answers immediately about the lead levels in drinking water in the Jersey City public schools.

Members of Parents and Communities United for Education, a local grassroots organization, have petitioned School Superintendent Dr. Epps and members of the Board of Education in recent weeks to speed up water testing so that it can be done in time to tell parents from all schools about the results before the end of the school year.

They also want the results to be posted on the Jersey City Board of Education Web site (www.jcboe.org).

The testing is being done voluntarily by the Jersey City school system in all 45 of the city's public school buildings due to reports in January about the high level of lead in drinking water found at six schools (Schools 11, 23, 31, 6, 27, and 25).

Local newspaper articles said that some administrators in the school district knew about the lead problem for over a year in those schools, but did not tell parents.

PCUE members claimed that Dr. Epps verbally promised at a May 11 Board of Education facilities committee meeting that he would post the results of recent testing on the Board of Ed's Web site on June 6. They also have been waiting for letters notifying them of the test results.

Shut off at three schools

Last week, Roger Jones, spokesperson for the Board of Education, said the testing will conclude sometime between June 25 and July 1. Jones also said that letters were sent out to parents starting this past Thursday detailing the findings from seven schools as the result of the current testing.

Jones said that the recent results would be posted on the Board of Ed's Web site by this past Friday.

Jones said initial results from testing have led to the shut down of drinking sources at Snyder High School, Public School 29, and Academy 1.

Where lead lurks

Lead poisoning is estimated to affect over 300,000 children nationwide each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Children and adults sometimes suffer from exposure because they live in old homes painted with lead-based paint, which was used until 1978.

The exposure also comes from drinking water contaminated by lead as the result of old water pipes, or from living in areas contaminated by leaded gasoline, widely used in the U.S. until the 1970s.

In older urban areas like Jersey City, the problem is more prevalent.

Those exposed to lead can suffer from health problems including kidney failure or sight or hearing loss.

In children up to 3 years old, lead changes the cell structure and chemistry of developing brains, which can create maladies such as decreased intelligence, impaired cognitive function, and increased hyperactivity and aggression levels.

Lead in the body is measured by the Blood Lead Level (BLL), calculated in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (ug/dL). The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta states that a BLL of 10 ug/dL or above is a cause for concern. However, lead can impair development even at a BLL of below 10 ug/dL.

Want answers now

Louella McFadden is a PCUE member and great-grandmother of a second grader at Public School 38, and the great aunt of pre-kindergarten student at Public School 15. McFadden said parents and guardians of children in the Jersey City school system want answers quickly so they know if their child needs to be tested for lead levels.

"On a personal level as a parent, as well as all [PCUE] parents, we are worried about our children," McFadden said. "I'm sure it doesn't take that long for testing results to come back."

McFadden said PCUE members are planning a protest on June 19 outside Public School 11 on Bergen Avenue, where the Board of Education monthly meeting is held, to make their displeasure known about the delayed test results.

Board of Ed spokesperson Jones said the reason the Board of Education hasn't sent out the results from the testing sooner is because they have to wait to receive it from the firm, Garden State Environmental, based in Glen Rock.

Comments on this story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

Quote:

I had read that water fountains are often the cause of lead issues in schools -- they might want to test those and if so just get rid of them.

===============================

" Water Fountains May Pose Lead Risk

Washington--The water fountains in many schools contain unacceptably high levels of lead, health experts have told a House subcommittee.

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment last month, two researchers who have studied the problem said that ''water from electric water coolers can be very high [in lead content] and can pose quite high toxicity risk for all individuals."

And because children are more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults, they said, school water coolers may pose... "

I keep forgetting that the schools use different under-ground water pipes then for residential homes !!!

Too much lead found in water at 7 schools

Saturday, June 14, 2008
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Seven of 335 water sources in seven Jersey City public schools have elevated levels of lead, according to the first results of last month's water tests by the Jersey City Board of Education.

Earlier this year, six elementary schools - schools 6, 25, 27, 31, 11 and 23 - were discovered to have unacceptably high levels of lead in the drinking water, as part of the district's voluntary participation in a federal Environmental Protection Agency program.

The district has received results for seven schools tested by Garden State Environmental and will update the community on test results through letters distributed to families and staff, a press release stated. Letters will also be posted on the Board of Education's Web site.

Testing will be completed July 1, the release indicated.

The BOE will not begin cleanup of affected water sources until all test results are compiled and the EPA approves a plan, the release stated.

"Obviously we want to fast-track the remediation efforts we will likely undertake, and we plan to work with our expert environmental consultants so we can resolve these matters as quickly and efficiently as possible," district Superintendent Charles Epps Jr. said in the release.

A "flushing program," involving custodians opening taps to run water for a few minutes each morning, was initiated in February to reduce the amount of lead resulting from water sitting in pipes, the release said.

According to the EPA's Web site, exposure to elevated levels of lead, above 20 parts per billion, can stunt physical and mental development in children and cause increases in blood pressure in adults. Lead is especially dangerous for children, whose bodies absorb more of the chemical.