At Least 25 N.J. School Districts Have Found Lead In Drinking Water, And List Is Growing

The list of school districts that have found too much lead in their drinking water continues to grow, with the revelation this week that four more N.J. districts have elevated levels of the toxin. State officials earlier this year said at least 21 district have too much lead.

Four districts — Burlington Township, Evesham, Lenape Regional High School District and Palmyra — were the latest to release results showing some facilities had higher than acceptable levels of lead, according to a Thursday report in the Burlington County Times.

In a letter to parents and families, Carol Birnbohm, superintendent of Lenape Regional, said the "health and safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance to the Lenape Regional High School District (District) Board of Education and Administration."

"Lead can cause serious health problems if too much enters the body from drinking water or other sources. Lead is most dangerous for pregnant women, infants, and children under 6 years old," she wrote. "Exposure to high levels of lead during pregnancy contributes to low birth weight and developmental delays in infants. In young children, lead exposure can lower IQ levels, affect hearing, reduce attention span, and impact school performance."

The announcements come a few months after Gov. Chris Christie announced that all of the state's 3,000 schools would be tested for lead exposure and the state appropriated $10 million to help cover the costs. A level of 15 parts per billion is set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the maximum allowable amount, as lead in drinking water can have serious health impacts, especially for children.

The state Board of Education adopted the lead-testing requirements in July 2016 in the wake of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis that grabbed national headlines and raised concerns about schoolchildren being exposed to lead in their drinking water.

The Flint crisis led to testing of water in some of New Jersey's inner-city schools; results from 30 schools in Newark found lead levels as high as 35 times above the federal action limit of 15 ppb.

Bob Considine, a DEP spokesman, has said most of the major lead issues in New Jersey — and in the rest of the country — are the result of leeching of lead from pipes and solder in homes and buildings.

"But when we do have issues with public water supplies or private wells, we have the safe guards in place by virtue of EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule that requires these wells and utilities to address those concerns and also publicly notify people who use those sources of those lead issues," he said.

In January, New Jersey education officials said they've received 21 notifications from school districts with elevated levels of lead in drinking water. The Department of Education publicized the figure during a hearing with lawmakers, but it didn't identify the school districts.

Here are districts identified by Patch and other news reports as having found too much lead in their drinking water over the past year:

Brick:

Emma Havens Young Elementary School had 53 locations tested, and of those five came up with lead levels exceeding 15 ppb. One was a classroom bubbler water fountain; one was a steamer in the kitchen. Also testing high were the teachers' lounge sink faucet and the library bar faucet, according to the letter. The fifth spot was in the boiler room, a spot not used for drinking water. The four affected faucets have been shut off, the district said.

At Drum Point, seven classroom bubblers tested high in initial tests, the district said. Repairs were done and the bubblers retested, the district said. After the retests, two classroom bubblers continued to produce lead levels above the 15 ppb. One had a level of 51.47 ppb, the other had a level of 31.3 ppb. Both bubblers were deactivated, the district said. They had been out of service since November awaiting the results of the retest, the district said.

Lake Riviera Middle School and Midstreams Elementary School were tested in November. At Lake Riviera, seven samples out of 38 tested above the 15 ppb. One was a hallway water cooler that was immediately disconnected; the others were kitchen sinks and one point-of-entry outlet, none of which were used for drinking water. At Midstreams, three of 40 samples taken exceeded the 15 ppb; two were bubblers and one was a food prep sink. All three were disconnected.

Burlington Township

Burlington Township had no water facilities test above the 15.5 ppb limit at the high and middle schools and the Fountain Woods Elementary School. But at the Thomas O. Hopkins building, which is behind the high school, two samples were taken that had higher than the acceptable limit — a sink in the child study team lounge and a water source in the boiler room. Read more here.

Cherry Hill

Elevated levels of lead have been found recently in nine water outlets at five elementary schools in the Cherry Hill School District, officials said.

Outlets at Bret Harte, James Johnson, Horace Mann, Joseph D. Sharp and Woodcrest elementary schools tested higher than the 15 parts per billion (ppb) allowed by the state, the district announced on its website.

Evesham

The Evesham School District released its lead water testing results in late February from its nine facilities. Read more here.

Fort Lee:

Elevated lead levels were found at 10 water fountains at the district's four elementary schools last year, officials announced.

The Fort Lee School District received a report from an environmental testing agency indicating that the lead levels were found "to be above the standard in lead testing," Superintendent Kenneth Rota said in an email to parents and the school community. Rota said he wanted to get the information out to people as quickly as possible.

The affected water fountains were shut down and work began to replace the affected water fountains and filters has begun, Rota said.

Hoboken:

Elevated levels of lead were found last year at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, according to a report.

A late April round of testing in 18 of the university’s facilities revealed that five residential buildings – Davis, Palmer, Humphreys, 600 River Terrace and 604 River Terrace - had levels of lead that exceed EPA regulations, a Stevens spokesperson told NJ.com.

Lenape Regional:

At Lenape, 12 out of 114 water locations tested higher than the acceptable limit of 15 parts per billion. Those included two water fountains in the hallways, a steamer and braising pan in the south kitchen, a sink and braising pan in the north kitchen, a sink in the nurse's office, a sink in the home concession area, and four other sinks throughout the school. Read more here.

Long Valley

All schools, except for Benedict A. Cucinella school have been tested. Out of 159 drinking or food preparation water sources, 141 were under lead action levels set by the State Environmental Protection Agency.

Water has been shut off to sources that tested above the limits. For a full breakdown of the test results, visit the Washington Township Schools website.

Middletown:

Elevated level of lead have been found in three Middletown Township public schools last year. High lead levels were found in: Bayshore Middle School, kitchen sink (sink was unused at the time of testing); River Plaza Elementary School, water fountain on first floor; and Thorne Middle School, sink in faculty room.

Morristown:

Elevated levels of lead have been found in water at Sussex Avenue Elementary School and at Hillcrest Elementary School over the past hyear.

According to morristowngreen.com, in a note sent to the school community last year, Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast said the water sources that tested high for lead were not used for drinking or food preparation. Subsequently, those sources were turned off.

Newark:

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) advised the Newark Public Schools system last year to use alternate water sources in 30 district school buildings after recent testing allegedly found elevated levels of lead at various water taps.

According to a DEP news release, officials in the Newark Public Schools system “acted immediately on the recommendation” and began notifying school officials, parents and students of the results.

New Brunswick:

Elevated levels of lead have been found at 14 different sites in New Brunswick schools, the district announced last year. The school district tested water from sinks and drinking fountains at 181 locations, and 14 sites came back with higher-than-recommended levels of lead, Superintendent Aubrey Johnson said.

Those 14 locations are mostly water fountains and some sinks: Four in McKinley School, three in the Middle School, two each in Paul Robeson Annex, Woodrow Wilson School, Lincoln Annex and one in Redshaw School. A full list can be found here.

Palmyra

Superintendent Brian McBride said in a letter dated March 8 that the district completed its lead testing last summer. The district found three water facilities with higher than acceptable levels of lead, and at the Charles Street School, one fountain was disconnected. Read more here.

Parsippany-Troy Hills

Test results from Parsippany school buildings were reported in 2016, and the Lake Hiawatha Elementary School showed some staggering – and dangerous – levels of lead in drinking water.

Even partial testing released by the school district showed 10 areas of the building to be above the 15 ppb, or parts per billion, allowable threshold of lead in the drinking water. Some of those areas, specifically in the preschool rooms, were as much as 104 times higher than the maximum allowed, the results showed.

Toms River:

West Dover had four sources that exceeded the 15 ppb, while Washington Street had seven, according to the letters. Information on how many sites were tested in each school was not immediately available, but the state regulation requires schools to test every water outlet, from classroom "bubbler" fountains to custodial closet sinks.

In both schools, the outlets with lead levels exceeding the standard are not used for drinking water, the district said in the letters. Signs have been posted at all of them reinforcing the message that the water is not to be used for drinking, the letters said.

Read more: These N.J. Towns Have Bigger Lead Poisoning Risk Than Flint, MI: Watchdogs

Last year, watchdog groups identified children in 11 municipalities and two counties in New Jersey as having higher levels of lead in their blood than children in Flint.

Those localities identified were Irvington, Trenton, Newark, Paterson, Plainfield, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Atlantic City, New Brunswick and Passaic. Cumberland and Salem counties were also on the list.

Flint has become the focal point of a health crisis involving contaminated water, where thousands of children may be afflicted with lead poisoning.

NJ.com last year also identified districts that have disclosed elevated lead levels in their water, including:

• Bridgewater-Raritan
• Leonia
• Bergenfield
• Hamilton (Mercer)
• Paterson
• Princeton
• West Windsor-Plainsboro
• Ewing
• Lawrenceville
• Denville

Last year, NJ Spotlight and USA Today identified New Jersey drinking water sites that have violated federal action-levels for lead. Patch backed up the data by going through the DEP's Drinking Water Watch searchable database, where people can see the quality of water in their communities, businesses or schools.

Here is that list:

• ONE LOVE DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOL, Atlantic 19.5ppb-35.2ppb
• HOMESTEAD RESIDENTIAL HEALTH CARE, Atlantic 26.6ppb-37.08ppb
• BALLYS PARK PLACE CASINO, Atlantic 600ppb
• BUENA REGIONAL HIGH SCHO, Atlantic 21.4ppb
• COLLINGS LAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Atlantic 15.5ppb
• TILTON TERRACE MH, Atlantic 22ppb
• HIGH MOUNTAIN ROAD SCHOOL, Bergen 20ppb
• RIDGEWOOD WATER, Bergen 21.6ppb
• FOUNTAIN OF LIFE CENTER, Burlington 27.1ppb-37.6ppb
• IRONSTONE SHOPPING CTR, Burlington 79ppb
• HILLTOP MOBILE VILLAGE, Burlington 43ppb
• NEWCOMB MIDDLE SCHOOL, Burlington 23.6ppb
• NEWCOMB MIDDLE SCHOOL, Burlington 19.5ppb
• DEBORAH HEART & LUNG CENTER, Burlington 21ppb
• UNITED STATE POST OFFICE - VINCENTOWN, Burlington 16.7ppb
• NEW LISBON DEVELOPMENT CTR, Burlington 190ppb
• WAGNER BOOT CAMP, Burlington 44.36ppb
• PINE VALLEY GOLF CLUB, Camden 36ppb
• UPPER TWP MIDDLE SCHOOL, Cape May 17.2ppb-20.6ppb
• DELSEA WOODS COMMUNITY LLC, Cape May 27.8ppb
• BAYSHORE MOBILE HOME PARK, Cumberland 17.9ppb-19ppb
• CUMBERLAND CNTY TECHNICAL ED, Cumberland 31.3ppb
• MOUNTAIN RIDGE COUNTRY CLUB, Essex 21ppb-110ppb
• FERRO CORPORATION, Gloucester 15.5ppb-62.6ppb
• TLC DAYCARE CENTER INC, Gloucester 25.7ppb
• CONLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Hunterdon 28.7ppb-160ppb
• PHILLIPS BARBER HEALTH CENTER, Hunterdon 29.4ppb-232ppb
• ALBERT ELIAS RESIDENTIAL GROUP, Hunterdon 18.5ppb-29.4ppb
• DELAWARE VALLEY REGIONAL, Hunterdon 113ppb
• EAST AMWELL SCHOOL, Hunterdon 36.7ppb
• ROUTE 12 BUSINESS PARK, Hunterdon 105ppb
• STOCKTON WATER DEPARTMENT, Hunterdon 18.6ppb
• AM BEST CO, Hunterdon 18ppb
• PRINCETON TECHNOLOGY CTR, Mercer 18.1ppb-110ppb
• FARIDY VEISZ FRAYTAK PC, Mercer 19.8ppb
• PENNINGTON PARTNERSHIP, Mercer 23ppb
• LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL, Mercer 124ppb
• PRINCETON FRIENDS SCHOOL, Mercer 81ppb
• MIDDLESEX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Middlesex 41ppb
• COLTSTOWN GROUP/SHOPPING CTR, Monmouth 30ppb
• BAIS LEAH, Monmouth 26.3ppb
• BLACK RIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL, Morris 43ppb-74ppb
• MSM/SHAMROCK TIC WELL # 3, Morris 18ppb-60ppb
• 360 ROUTE 24, Morris 87ppb-276ppb
• OUR LADY OF THE MAGNIFICAT, Morris 38.3ppb-61.7ppb 6
• MILL RIDGE LANE, Morris 15.9ppb
• CHESTER WOODS PROFESSIONAL PARK, Morris 16.6ppb
• JEFFERSON TWP HIGH SCHOOL, Morris 23.6ppb
• MORRISTOWN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, Morris 88.7ppb
• WDIFTK INC, Morris 21ppb
• NJDOT @ ROXBURY CORP CENTER, Morris 16.9ppb
• PUBLIC WORKS BLDG, Ocean 17ppb-19ppb
• CRYSTAL LAKE HEALTH CARE, Ocean 54.3ppb
• AIR PARK EMERGENCY SERVICES, Ocean 19ppb
• BRICK TOWNSHIP MUA, Ocean 100.8ppb
• PASSAIC VALLEY WATER COMMISSION, Passaic 16.4ppb-20.8ppb
• N.J.D.W.S.C. - WANAQUE NORTH, Passaic 19.27ppb-45.34ppb
• HILLCREST COMMUNITY CTR, Passaic 21ppb-24ppb
• NORTH HALEDON FIRST PRESB. CHURCH & NURSERY, Passaic 16.6ppb
• REFLECTION LAKES GARDEN APARTMENTS INC, Passaic 24ppb
• UPPER GREENWOOD LK ELEM SCHOOL, Passaic 16.8ppb
• CHRISTAIN LIFE-DAY CARE/AGAPE, Passaic 32ppb
• MILFORD MANOR, Passaic 36ppb
• ALLOWAY TWP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Salem 19.2ppb
• LEISURE ARMS COMPLEX, Salem 32ppb
• HARDING WOODS MHP, Salem 17.4ppb
• BANCROFT NEURO HEALTH CENTER, Salem 30ppb
• SOMERVILLE LUMBER CO, Somerset 28.1ppb
• LITTLE GEM ACADEMY, Somerset 61ppb
• 350 COMPLEX WELL, Sussex 21.7ppb-35.8ppb
• MANOR PLAZA CONDO ASSOCIATION COMPLEX, Sussex 16.4ppb
• STERLING PLAZA OFFICE, Sussex 21.7ppb
• GREEN APPLE ACADEMY, Sussex 21.4ppb
• HOPATCONG HEAD START, Sussex 51.4ppb
• U W V H DC SYSTEM, Sussex 22ppb
• ISE FARMS INC, Warren 150ppb
• JAMES ALEXANDER CORP, Warren 18ppb
• WASHINGTON SHOPPING CENTER, INC, Warren 77ppb

Patch file photo