Worse than Flint: One Portland School Has a Sink with Lead Levels More than Four Times Worse

Look at the sink in Room 237 on the second floor of Grant High School, and you wouldn't necessarily think there is anything special about it.

Thanks to test results just released by Portland Public Schools, we know that this sink has the unfortunate honor of having levels of lead four times higher than anything found in Flint, Michigan.

The results show that sink had 57,600 parts per billion of lead in the water. Compare that to Flint where the highest level of lead found 13,000 parts per billion.

Portland Public Schools have now released the results of testing of more than 70 district buildings. Only one — Pioneer at Holladay Center — came back with no positive tests for lead.

While the results at Grant were by far the highest — the EPA says the acceptable limit is 15 parts per billion; the EPA considers the water to be toxic waste if it exceeds 5,000 parts per billion — it was far from the only alarming result.

A water spigot at Creston Elementary School came back at 2,720 parts per billion.

A water spigot in the women's room at Alliance at Meek High School tested at 7,320 parts per billion.

A sink in the boy's bathroom at Terwilliger Elementary School came back at 13,000 parts per billion.

A sink in room 223 at Wilson High School tested positive for 4,870 parts per billion.

A report commissioned by the school district that was released last week was very critical of how the district has handled the lead crisis.

The report uncovered what it called "an absence of diligent inquiry by PPS individuals in upper levels of administration hierarchy regarding PPS's procedures and protocols for lead in water testing."

District Superintendent Carole Smith announced she was quitting right before the report was released.

The district earlier this week restated its commitment to providing water dispenser service for all PPS buildings in the coming year.