Belleville schools shut off six fountains due to lead levels

The Belleville School District has shut off six drinking water fountains and posted signs at five sinks warning students and staff to not drink the water because of elevated lead levels.

Superintendent of Schools Richard Tomko sent a letter to parents notifying them of the elevated lead levels on Monday and by week's end, plans were under way to remediate contaminants.

Three drinking fountains are closed at School No. 7. Additional fountains were shut off at schools 9 and 10 as well as Belleville Middle School, Tomko said.

The testing, which was done last month, is in keeping with a 2016 state mandate that requires all school districts test drinking water for lead by July 13.

The tests, conducted by Agra Environmental and Laboratory Services, also found four sinks throughout the district in which the water was not safe for drinking. The district placed signs above those sinks indicating the water is for washing only.

“We’re in the process of remediating them. The bubblers and the sinks that are bad, we are changing the faucets and the aerators,” said Belleville School District Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds Richard Henry, referring to the older style water fountains.

The elevated lead levels, he said, are a result of brass fixtures and fittings, which contain lead alloy. The replacements are set to be complete during the second week in June, Henry said.

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“What we’re finding here in our schools could be in anybody’s household,” he said. “You could have higher levels drinking out of your kitchen sink,” he said of lead.

Once the fixtures are replaced and filters installed, Henry said, the district will again test the contaminated outlets.

The state places the acceptable level of lead for drinking water at 15.5 parts per billion, said Michael Furrey, the owner of Agra Environmental.

Water at Belleville School No. 3's main office tested at 20.2 parts per billion, the results posted on the school district website show.

Belleville is far from the first municipality to report elevated lead levels in its water following the state Department of Education's mandate that districts test for lead.

Elevated levels of the toxin were found in four schools in Ramsey last April.  And Clifton's School District found elevated lead levels in 36 sources in August.

The testing in Belleville follows elevated lead levels found in Newark public schools last year, which Furrey's company had tested at the time.

He said the city's schools have made good progress in remediating the lead in their water, but said state guidance on what to do after lead is found is not as clear as it could be.

Furrey, a member of the American Water Works Association, had testified at the Statehouse in Trenton in favor the legislation mandating testing for lead in school water. 

"They’re still writing regulations on it," he said. "The law is to just mandate sampling and testing. There is not clear guidance on what to do with the results."

Email: kadosh@northjersey.com