A local school district is in the process of trying to figure out what caused water samples from kitchen sinks at two schools to have higher levels of lead.
Officials in the South Lyon School District told 7 Action News they wanted to take a proactive approach, in light of what has happened with the drinking water in Flint.
Scientists took some water samples in the district and discovered lead levels higher than the EPA’s acceptable lead level standard from kitchen sinks at both Dolson Elementary and Sayre Elementary.
“Those sinks are used for things like rinsing fruit or for, maybe, boiling pasta - things like that. But they're not used for, like, adding water to an ingredient or for drinking water,” said South Lyon School District’s superintendent, Melissa Baker. “We still took the precaution of closing those sinks down until initial tests could be done. Those were done this past Saturday.”
According to Baker, the district has been working with Arch Environmental to collect 48 samples from schools throughout the district.
Testing will show which places has elevated levels of lead, and if so where problem stems from. School officials say they have been informing parents throughout this process.
Some parents told 7 Action News they are glad the district is taking steps like this to ensure the safety of the students.
“I think that’s great,” said parent Michael Heist. “Obviously with what’s going on in Flint right now, if they’re obviously taking that serious and doing their due diligence to make sure our water levels are safe of lead, that’s fantastic.”
“I think what’s going on in the state of Michigan, you’re always going to have worry,” said Baker. “That’s why you take action. I think that’s why our board of education decided to take action prior to waiting for the Governor’s proposal potentially going through which, maybe, will have some funding, legislative mandates, and protocols. We moved before that because we see it’s real important here in South Lyon.”
The follow up lab results are expected to be turned in to the district Wednesday. The district officials hope to share the findings with parents on Friday.
