Lead found in another Tacoma school, testing probe will not include children

TACOMA, Wash. — In the sixty-six public schools across Tacoma, testing will become intense in the next two weeks. If drinking water flows from it, the Tacoma Public School superintendent vowed to examine it for traces of lead.  “We are going to test every fixture in our district,” said Superintendent Carla Santorno.

The Tacoma Public School board found out Thursday, that two fixtures in Stanley Elementary School tested positive for lead in the water. That makes 13 schools with the same elevated lead problem.

“We have an active investigation going on to determine how we got to this point," said district spokesman Dan Voelpel, who says school officials believe the lead is leaching out of many fixtures that were installed before 1986.

“Before 1986, there was a lot of lead was used in fixtures and after the safe drinking water act was amended in 1986, fixtures got safer,” Voelpel said.

Meanwhile, a lot of concerned Tacoma parents are getting their kids blood-tested for lead. “There's been a dramatic increase in calls in the last few days,” said Dr. Brian Berry of Franciscan Health in Tacoma. “Oh yes, we've ordered a lot of lead tests," he said.

Parents are finding out that most insurance policies do not cover lead-level blood tests, and many have asked the district if they would help pay the lab fees to test their children.

“The answer is no,” said Voelpel. “The reason is, we have no indication from the health authorities that there's a risk of lead poisoning from the drinking water."

In March, the public school district in Newark, N.J. offered free lead-level blood tests to many of their 17,000 students, after high lead levels were discovered in the water in several of their schools.

Cox Media Group