High Levels Of Lead Found In Water At Butler Co. School
BUTLER (KDKA) -- High lead levels were the talk of parents and grandparents as they came to pick up their kids at the end or the school day at Summit Elementary School in Summit Township, Butler County. Summit is the only school in the Butler Area School District that operates off well water.
"Someone told me about it and I was in complete shock," parent Trisha Ayres said.
Ayres has two daughters in the school.
"Yesterday, my girls came home with bottles of water and I was like 'where did you get the bottles of water' and they said 'we got it from school,'" Ayres said.
The superintendent said elevated lead readings were first detected back in September by the maintenance supervisor, so the maintenance supervisor notified the DEP about it and had everyone drink bottled water for two days.
Then months go by.
On Thursday, the superintendent ordered that all students and staff start drinking bottled water again. The superintendent says he was never notified that lead levels were still elevated and made the decision on his own to ban everyone from using well water until further notice. On Friday, were parents issued a letter from the school and DEP telling them about the high lead levels.
"I'm surprised we didn't know before this," grandparent Jeanne Arner said.
"So we'll get it taken care of I'm sure. We'll trust in our people that run the things and they will take care of it," grandparent Tammy Dumbaugh said. "I'm pretty sure we'll check him out with the pediatrician."
"I'm actually kind of mad about it because now I have to watch out for lead signs," Ayres said.
The superintendent said the school could be using bottled water for the next week to 10 days while officials come in to investigate the water situation. In addition to drinking bottled water, everyone will be using hand sanitizer in the bathrooms. Well water will only be used in toilets and urinals.
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