Bend-La Pine Schools conduct more lead testing

Water has stopped flowing from some fountains at two schools, one in Bend and another in La Pine, while more testing of lead levels is conducted..

“We found that in two of the 351 faucets we tested, we did have elevated levels of lead,” Julianne Repman, director of communications for Bend-La Pine Schools, said Thursday as more tests were conducted.

The Environmental Protection Agency says action should be taken any time a level higher than 15 parts per billion (ppb) is found in a public water system or 20 ppb for a school fixture.

A drinking fountain at La Pine Middle School had 28 ppb and a sample at Amity Creek Thompson School in Bend came in at 31 ppb.

The district began testing in June, in response to alarming levels of lead found in Flint, Michigan, and Portland.

NBC reported the highest level found in a Portland public school was 2,570 ppb, and the EPA had Flint’s highest reading at 4,000 ppb.

Bend-La Pine’s results are low by comparison, but the EPA states:

“EPA has set the maximum contaminant level goal for lead in drinking water at zero because lead is a toxic metal that can be harmful to human health even at low exposure levels.”

Ali Risdon has a first-grade daughter at one of the affected schools. She said Thursday she’s satisfied with the precautions being take by the district.

“They really care about our kids and having good safe water, so I feel like the principal is on it,” she said. “And he’s like, ‘We’re taking all precautions.’ They’re turning it off and re-testing.”

Data from schools built after 1980 is expected in November.

“We anticipate it could be the same,” Repman said. “We’re definitely prepared to mitigate if we see issues at any of the school sites, making sure we get those water levels back to where we want them to be.” said.