Unsafe levels of lead found in water at Bonneville High School
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IDAHO FALLS — Results from an annual water test at Bonneville High School recently showed unacceptable levels of lead in the water.
Officials initially tested the water on July 3 and discovered high levels of lead in some, but not all, of the samples taken.
Eastern Idaho Public Health District officials say water tests showed lead levels around .038 milligrams per liter in several of the samples. This number is nearly 40 percent above the “action-required levels” established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Bonneville Joint School District 93 notified the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and appropriate steps are being taken to ensure public safety, school officials told EastIdahoNews.com.
Additional testing of the water is underway, and while the district is awaiting test results, access to drinking water has been cut off at the high school.
The new tests are expected to take between two to three weeks. Once levels return to a safe level, drinking water at the school will be turned back on.
Merrill Hemming, an environmental health specialist at Eastern Idaho Public Health, said the agency is asking the school to provide educational materials to faculty, students and parents on the potential dangers in drinking lead-laced water.
Bonneville School District is providing links to resources on its Facebook page regarding lead poisoning and the appropriate course of action to take if signs of lead contamination occur.