SOMA School Forum Will Discuss Lead In Drinking Water

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Are you concerned about the elevated levels of lead recently found in the drinking water at multiple school facilities in the South Orange-Maplewood School District? Then clear some space on your calendar for a public community forum on Saturday.

SOMA school district officials will host a “Community Q&A on Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 17 at the Seth Boyden Demonstration School, 274 Boyden Avenue in Maplewood.

Free child care will be available, event organizers stated in an email to parents.

The meeting is being held in response to the district’s recent announcement that water samples from nine sources in the South Orange-Maplewood district tested above the U.S. EPA action level for lead in drinking water, including a girls' locker room, a teachers' lounge and the concession stand at Underhill Field.

• See related article: Maplewood, South Orange Schools Find Elevated Lead Level In Water

According to an email from SOMA Superintendent John Ramos, the district has already completed several remediation efforts:

• “All affected water sources have been turned off and covered. The district will be replacing these fixtures with new equipment and filtration systems.”
• “Each of the affected schools has bottled water available for students and staff. The district will continue to make sure that these schools have two bottles of water per day per person available.”
• “Central Office administrators and Board of Education members met on June 13 with local health officials and the district’s physician to determine the next best steps to ensure the health and well-being of students and staff.”

In addition, the district is retesting all nine water sources that had elevated levels to re-confirm the lead levels and to “determine if some of the results were anomalous,” Ramos stated.

The results of retesting are likely to take at least a week, Ramos said Tuesday night.

Last year, lead testing was completed and all areas met safety standards, school administrators previously stated. These results can be seen on the district website here.

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