NOTICE: Lead Found In Drinking Water At 3 Wilmington Schools, Town Taking Action

WILMINGTON, MA — In a notice published on the Wilmington Health Department website Tuesday, Superintendent DeLai announced the findings of recent testing for lead and copper in the drinking water supply at Wilmington schools.

Dear Members of the Wilmington School Community:

As you are likely aware, as a result of recent events in different parts of the country, there has been heightened concern about the levels of lead and copper in our drinking water, including in schools and child care facilities.  While not required by law or regulation, in an effort to be proactive and out of an abundance of caution, a decision was made by the Wilmington Public Buildings Department to test all potential sources of drinking water in our schools.  This included all water bubblers and all kitchen faucets, of which there are fifty two in our district.  On May 19, 2016, water samples were collected by Public Buildings’ staff and were sent to be analyzed by ChemServe Environmental Analysts.  We apologize that notification of this testing program was not sent out in advance as would have been preferable.  But we write to you today to provide you with important information about this subject and to share the results of the testing and analysis.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have established what is known as an “Action Level” for copper and lead in drinking water at schools and child care facilities.  This action level is not a maximum contaminant level (MCL) and an action level exceedance is not a violation of any law or regulation.  It does, however, require that the town work to mitigate the effects including regular monitoring, water treatment, public education, or replacement of plumbing or fixtures.  Lead and copper enter drinking water mainly from corrosion of lead and copper containing plumbing materials, most notably the solder used in plumbing, not from the public water supply itself.  The Department of Public Works is required to test the drinking water supply and has been doing so in compliance with EPA and DEP regulation since 1992.

No drinking water sources at any of our schools had copper levels that exceeded the Action Level for copper in drinking water of 130 parts per billion.  However, four of the 52 water taps sampled had lead levels slightly above the Action Level for lead of 15 parts per billion.  The sources that had elevated levels are shown below.

Location	Results (ppb)	Action Level (ppb)
Boutwell School – Front Hallway Fountain	18.1	15
Boutwell School – Room 5 Faucet	16.8	15
Shawsheen School – Level 1B Fountain	16.2	15
West Intermediate School – Kitchen Faucet	17.6	15

Lead is not in the Town’s water supply but due to the age of these buildings, plumbing and fixtures in our buildings may contain lead, resulting in this increase in the lead content in the tap water. The Town is taking these results seriously and has moved immediately to safeguard the health of students and staff by taking the steps outlined below.

1. We have removed from service all fixtures with lead levels over the action level.
2. We stopped usage of, removed, and will replace the Boutwell School front fountain.
3. The faucet in Room 5 of the Boutwell School has been turned off and will be replaced. In addition, we have turned off the water supply to all of the combination classroom sinks at the Boutwell until such time as we are able to test each classroom sink.
4. We stopped usage of, removed, and will replace the Shawsheen School Level 1B fountain.
5. We have removed from service and will replace the West Intermediate School Kitchen faucet.
6. Over the next several weeks, we will be testing ALL possible and potential drinking water sources in our schools including fountains, kitchen sinks, classroom sinks, nurses’ office sinks, and staff lounge sinks. If any of those fixtures tests above the Action Level, they will be replaced over the summer.
7. We will continue to follow the required sampling protocols for testing including the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) that requires samples from 30 residences and two schools every three years.

Please know that even though the lead levels just slightly exceeded the action levels, we will be addressing all impacted fixtures.  In addition, before consuming water from a fixture it is recommended that water be run from the faucet for a brief period of time.

For more information on lead in water please visit the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority website at http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/04water/html/qual6leadinfo.htm.

If you have any questions on this information please do not hesitate to contact George Hooper, Superintendent of Public Buildings (978-658-3017), Michael Woods, Director of Public Works (978-658-4711), or Paul Ruggiero, Director of Administration and Finance for Wilmington Public Schools (978-694-6000).

Sincerely,
Mary DeLai, Superintendent of Schools