Saddle River will cover cost to fix lead problem at school

SADDLE RIVER — Under an agreement approved Wednesday, the borough will pay to replace seven Wandell School drinking fountains where elevated levels of lead were found. 

The Borough Council voted Wednesday in favor of an agreement stipulating that the borough will spend up to $6,000 to replace the fountains with four "hydration stations" — water fountains that include filtration systems and enable students to easily refill water bottles. In exchange, the Saddle River school district will let the borough use Wandell School as a polling place during primary and general elections.

Wandell School tested 21 water outlets used for drinking and food preparation earlier this year as part of state Board of Education requirements. Results showed that seven sources tested higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum acceptable lead level of 15 parts per billion, necessitating that the district take action. The school immediately shut down the affected fountains while it worked to come up with a plan.  

Meanwhile, the council unanimously passed a resolution offering to help the school take any measures necessary to resolve the problem, committing to fund up to $20,000 for remediation efforts.  

A second test required by the state showed that after flushing the system, or running the water before testing, lead levels at Wandell School were below the EPA’s threshold.  

In an interview before the meeting, Schools Superintendent Louis DeLisio said this likely indicates that the problem is in the fixtures. The company that performed the water testing recommended trading them out for new fixtures that would filter the water. 

DeLisio said the hydration stations to be purchased by the borough will filter out lead and other possible contaminants to around 0.01 parts per billion. 

DeLisio said the district has turned the situation into a learning experience for students by explaining to them why lead in the water is a problem and showing them how water is filtered. The new hydration stations would also show how many water bottles students have filled, encouraging environmentally friendly habits, DeLisio said. 

Elevated lead levels in water have been a problem in many area schools, where older infrastructure can cause lead to leach into water. The problem inspired Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-Wyckoff, to introduce federal legislation last month that would require increased lead testing for school water and help fund continued testing and replacement of old drinking fountains.  

Gottheimer said nearly 2,000 water systems across the United States have found elevated lead levels in tap water samples, which he called a “significant public health concern.”  

Although the EPA requires action to be taken when lead levels exceed 15 parts per billion, the agency’s goal is for there to be no lead in drinking water, because lead is a toxic metal that can be harmful to human health even at low exposure levels, the EPA website says.  

Young children, infants and fetuses are particularly vulnerable, according to the EPA. In children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing and impaired formation and function of blood cells.  

Email: nolan@northjersey.com