From Pam Moomau, MCCPTA Safety Committe Chair

Pasted at the end of this message, please find the end-of-year update on
lead in school drinking water.  Also, see below for a list of the
schools that have either been totally cleared of a lead problem, or that
have approved remediation plans.  All remediation plans are provided to
individual school principals.  MCPS is relying on the principals to
notify their individual communities.

******************
 From MCPS environmental safety coordinator, Lynne Zarate:
The following schools have completed lead in water testing and do not
need any remediation (letters have been sent to principals):

Brooke Grove ES
Barnsley ES
Forest Oak MS
Georgian Forest ES
The following schools have lead in water remediation plans developed
which have been communicated to the school principals:

Cedar Grove ES
Charles Drew ES
Chevy Chase ES
Gaithersburg ES
Highland View ES (to be delivered 6/3)
Maryvale ES
Sequyoah ES
Travilah ES
Westland MS
Westbrook ES
North Chevy Chase ES
Westover ES
Mill Creek Towne ES
Rosemont ES
Herbert Hoover MS
Flower Valley ES
Rock View ES

There are another 14 schools which have plans developed and I will be
sending the memo to Dr. Tillman on Monday. Following that, the official
notification will be provided to the principals.

Informational signage will also be placed in all bathrooms and science
labs, regardless of the results, stating that water in these areas is
not intended for drinking purposes.

Any other questions, please call or email.
Lynne Zarate, MSE, CIH, CHMM
Environmental Safety Coordinator
301-926-4378 office
301-926-4820 fax

*************************************
Lead in Water Update: 6/2/05

Work on developing lead remediation plans continues on a
school-by-school basis.  By the end of the school year, the second round
of sampling, from those fixtures that showed high readings in the first
round, will have been drawn (see note 1).  Drawing the samples is the
first step of a lengthy process.  There could be a significant lag time
between when your school’s samples are drawn and when final action is taken.
MCPS has contracted out initial analysis of the samples to Science
Applications International Corporation (see www.SAIC.com for information
about the firm).  MCPS receives readings and recommended remediation
plans for each school from SAIC.  MCPS environmental safety coordinator
Lynne Zarate [301-926-4378] reviews these reports, sometimes makes
recommendations for additional remediation, and then goes over them with
officials from the County Health Department and the County Department of
Environmental Protection.
When the remediation plan is finalized, a report is sent to the
principal of the school, who is responsible for notifying parents of the
results and the remediation plan.  So far, four schools have been
“cleared” - meaning they only had one or two fixtures with high
readings. An additional 20 schools have completed plans.  In these
completed plans, the recommendation has been to replace fixtures with
high readings (see note 2). Because these plans are completed on a

school by school basis, there will be no additional postings on the MCPS
website of the specific status of each school.  That information will be
available to parents through their school principal.  I will post a list
of the schools with completed plans when I get it.
As you know, at the request of the BOE, the County Council has
appropriated $1.6 million to begin replacing fixtures that have been
identified as having too high a lead content.  This process, too, is
likely to be time-consuming, as it will require bidding the job, and
coordinating with the school schedule. In the meantime these fixtures
are turned off or flushed. As we enter the warm season, you may want to
pay attention to how many fixtures are being turned off instead of
flushed, and discuss with your principal any concerns you may have about
students’ lack of access to water.  Also, please let me know if you
believe these concerns are not being adequately addressed.
       MCPS officials anticipate that they will need at least another $1.6
million when all of the testing is completed, but the original request
was based on what they felt they could address in the near future.

Pam Moomau



Notes:

1)  As reported in May, the second round of testing involves a different
sample draw/flushing/sample draw protocol only for those fixtures that
had been identified with high lead levels in the first round of testing.
 The second round protocol was developed to determine whether the
problem is the fixture or the school plumbing.  In my opinion, it’s good
that MCPS is going to the extra effort of testing for problems in the
school plumbing, even though addressing those could be more costly than
just replacing fixtures.
2)  Bathroom faucets that have readings greater than 20 parts per
billion (the EPA action level), but less than 100 parts per billion are
being left as is, with clear posting that they are not to be used for
drinking water.  As reported in May, I have had discussions with the
group about changing that policy for bathrooms that are part of pre-K,
K, or special ed classrooms…issue has not been resolved.  If anyone has
any thoughts on how important this may or may not be, please let me know