Healdsburg Junior High’s water fountains shut off over lead fears

Acting out of an “abundance of caution,” school officials Thursday shut off drinking fountains at Healdsburg Junior High and temporarily moved food preparation to a nearby school after a preliminary test indicated elevated levels of lead in the campus water.

The district started testing the water last week after earlier tests found lead contamination at Healdsburg Elementary School. Although recent samples taken by county health officials showed lower levels of lead at the K-2 school than detected in tests ordered by the district in December, officials wanted to ensure water at the junior high is safe, said Chris Vanden Heuvel, superintendent of the Healdsburg Unified School District.

“In reaction to the other water issues we were having at the other campus, we wanted to take extreme precaution,” he said.

Vanden Heuvel, who sent out a letter to parents Thursday to inform them about the water testing, said the junior high posed a concern because it contains the oldest structure in the district. The building that houses the band room, gym and a locker room was constructed in 1927, he said. The main building on campus, where the cafeteria and many of the classrooms are located, dates to the 1970s.

Water samples were taken by Redwood Empire Schools Insurance Group and sent to a New Jersey lab. Rose Burcina, Redwood Empire’s executive director, said preliminary results showed high levels of lead in the water.

“We’re waiting for more testing to confirm that,” she said, adding that the results should be back by Wednesday.

Vanden Heuvel said the school shut off all drinking foundations before students arrived on campus Thursday. Until Sonoma County’s Department of Health Services conducts its test, he said they’ll continue to offer students bottled water. Nearly 400 students attend the junior high.

The water filling stations should be safe because they were put in this past summer as part of a school remodel, Vanden Heuvel added. The concern is for pipes and fixtures installed before the 1990s, he said.

Karen Milman, the county public health officer, said the superintendent reached out to her Wednesday night about the potential of high levels of lead in the water.

The county will be doing its own test today on water from the drinking foundations and food preparation area. It could take up to two weeks to get the results, she said. They are requesting the lab expedite the process if possible, Milman added.

Adverse health effects from lead contamination depend on the length of exposure and amount of water people drink, she said in a previous interview. The county hasn’t received any reports of elevated blood lead in children from pediatricians.

“We haven’t had any cases in Healdsburg in many years,” she said on Thursday.

The original samples taken at Healdsburg Elementary School showed all three campus water fountains exceeded the federal limit of 15 parts per billion. One water fountain was more than 58 times that. However, later testing by the county showed the risk of lead exposure to be low.

Vanden Heuvel said previously the K-2 school’s water supply was tested from the street, before it entered the building, and that tests came up negative for contaminants. The problem likely stemmed from the building’s aging plumbing and not the city’s water, he said.

“Parents should wait to hear what Sonoma County health (department) tells us once they have a completed a battery of testing,” Vanden Heuvel said. “We need to defer to the experts on this.”

He said the district will start water quality testing at Healdsburg High School and Fitch Mountain School next week.

“It’s definitely a siren call for all communities to take water testing seriously,” he added.

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez?@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @eloisanews.