Lead Found in Water of Two Portland Elementary Schools

Unsafe levels of lead has been found in the water coming from the sinks and drinking fountains at two elementary schools in Portland.

The testing at Rose City Park and Creston elementary came at the request of concerned parents.

The district will test every school in the system over the summer, a spokeswoman told Patch.

While that announcement is just being made, the decision to test every school came earlier this year and was included in the superintendent's budget.

District Superintendent Carole Smith sent an email to parents apologizing for not having followed protocols and not having immediately informed them of the developments.

"Portland Public Schools regrets not having notified families and staff as soon as the tests indicated that there were elevated levels of lead," she said in an email to parents and staff. "The EPA’s best practices indicate that once elevated levels of lead are found, those water faucets should not be used for drinking or food preparation until they are replaced and retested.

"We apologize for not following this protocol."

The results of the lead testing were first reported by The Oregonian.

"After the news out of Flint, the decision was made to test our schools," said Courtney Westling, the district's director of government relations.

The district last tested for lead in 2001. Before that, the previous test had been in 1991.

During the 2001 testing, the district found that of the first 40 buildings they had tested, 35 had "at least one drinking fountain that tests over the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended action level for lead."

In 2002, the district installed new water filters in many schools but it turns out those filters are not certified as effective for lead reduction.

The district had not conducted any systematic testing since 2001 because they mistakenly believed the filters were effective.