More Testing Underway At Jeffco Head Start Preschool After Elevated Lead Levels
ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4)- Testing continues at the Jefferson County Head Start Preschool in Arvada after high levels of lead were detected in the water earlier this week.
Some parents are concerned because they claim they're still searching for answers about what has happened at the school. Jefferson County Head Start is located at 5150 Allison Street in Arvada.
Jeffco health officials told CBS4 the water was sent for testing on March 28 and the results came back April 13. That same day the school was closed. There are 315 students enrolled at the Head Start school.
"We took action right away to do additional sampling. Over 60 samples were collected from the distribution in the school today as well as upstream and downstream on the Arvada water main to try to identify the potential source and the extent to which lead might be in the system here," said Jeffco Environmental Health spokesman John Rada.
Final test results were received on Thursday. Those lead levels were found to be higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's "action level" for lead, which is a threshold requiring additional testing, monitoring and remediation.
The initial single source sample of water showed a lead result of 0.18 mg/L or 180 parts per billion, which is above the required action level of 15 ppb.
Jeffco said the initial water sample was taken from only one source and that source was not a frequently used water source.
The water was apparently discolored and tasted funny on March 3, three weeks before a test was submitted.
Outside the school on Friday bottled water was dropped off. Jeffco has contracted with a private company to perform more testing at the site. A total of 54 water samples, both stagnant and flow, were submitted for testing to an EPA accredited laboratory. Those results should be back by Monday.
Lead can impact every system in the body and can be especially harmful to young children.
Jeffco has urged parents to take their children to the doctor for an evaluation.
"If parents are really concerned we definitely want to encourage them to talk to their primary care physician and if they don't have a physician then we at the health department can offer up services," said Rada.
The City of Arvada told CBS4 the water in the city limits is safe to drink and confident the problem is isolated to the Head Start building. Jeffco plans to reopen the school on Monday morning.
