Bend-La Pine lead tests prompt water-fountain closures

Bend-La Pine Schools announced Wednesday it had completed a broader round of lead testing at sinks and drinking-water facilities and had stopped use of drinking fountains at two schools out of “an abundance of caution.”

Here’s the full announcement from the district:

In June, Bend-La Pine Schools began testing the water supplies at all school and work sites for lead and copper to ensure safe water supplies. During the first round of testing, one water source was tested at each location.

As a follow-up, Bend-La Pine Schools collected samples in September and October from all drinking fountains and food preparation sinks in buildings built prior to 1980. These results were received and reviewed Wednesday morning.

Testing on schools and facilities built after 1980 was completed this week and results are expected to be received by mid-November.

The test results for schools built prior to 1980 can be reviewed here:

Drinking Water Testing Results All Schools

Individual Facility Results:

Amity Creek Magnet at Thompson School Bear Creek Elementary School Bend Senior High School Buckingham Elementary School Cascade Middle School Highland Magnet at Kenwood School Juniper Elementary School La Pine High School La Pine Middle School Marshall High School Mountain View High School Pilot Butte Middle School R.E. Jewell Elementary School Education Center In all, 351 fixtures were tested at 14 schools in Bend and La Pine. Two fixtures were found to have elevated levels of lead.

One sample from a drinking fountain in an unused classroom at La Pine Middle School in La Pine showed slightly elevated levels of lead, at 28 parts per billion. The second slightly elevated sample came from a classroom in use at Amity Creek at Thompson School in Bend at 31 parts per billion of lead in the water. The federal Environmental Protection Agency action level is 20 parts per billion.

“Though the district does not believe that there is a systemic issue with the water supplies at these two school sites, we are proceeding with an abundance of caution,” the announcement said. By 1 p.m. Wednesday, these two schools were advised to stop use of all drinking fountains until further notice. Bottled water is being delivered to schools. Hand washing will continue to be available in restrooms.

The district will be taking second school-wide water samples at these two school sites on Thursday morning to verify results. We are working closely with our testing facility to get test results back as quickly as possible. The lab results could take as long as two weeks to be returned to the district.

Bend-La Pine Schools takes the health and safety of students and staff seriously. If you have any concerns about lead exposure, please see the resources below and/or contact your healthcare provider.

For more information:

Information for Parents from the Center for Disease Control on Lead Exposure Information from the Environmental Protection Agency on Protecting your Family from Lead Exposure Know the Facts: Publication on Lead Exposure from the Center for Disease Control (English) (277 KB) Lo que debe saber sobre el envenenamiento del plomo (Spanish) Publicación sobre la exposición al plomo desde el Centro de Cont (218 KB) These results, and all previous test results, will available at our Healthy and Safe Facilities web page.