Harrison school water cleared, but questions linger

WATER WAR — SAD 17 Facilities Manager
Dave Marshall (right) reacts to a comment
from parent Brian Poland (left), at a January 15
meeting about recent uranium contamination
of the water supply at Harrison Elementary School.
   (photo by Duke Harrington)

HARRISON — A new $3,000 filtration system has cleared drinking water at Harrison Elementary of uranium contamination, school officials say, but for some parents, questions linger about the welfare of their children.

In August, a routine quarterly test of the water supply at Harrison Elementary found traces of coliform — an indicator of possible e. coli contamination — in a kitchen sink. In early September, coliform also was found on a faucet in Room 103. 

Although the coliform issue was quickly resolved, a Maine Health & Environmental report detected at that time uranium levels of 56 microns per liter, system-wide, at the school.

The Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends uranium levels in drinking water of less than 20 microns per liter for homes and less than 30 microns per liter in public buildings.  The higher level is acceptable to public water supplies because people are expected to consume less in that setting.

Still, in various safety brochures, the CDC advises people to “use less tap water for drinking” at uranium levels between 20 and 30 microns per liter, adding that, at levels above 30 microns per liter, “You need to act.  Switch to bottled water right away.”

According to the CDC, prolonged exposure to high levels of uranium in drinking water, over a period of time, can cause kidney problems.

At the behest of the Maine Drinking Water Program, SAD 17 posted a notice about the coliform issue on September 15.  The next day, a second test for uranium found levels of 49 micros per liter and a second notice was posted.  School officials stress that neither posting constituted a “do not drink” order.  However, at the request of parents, SAD 17 began to truck in bottled water on September 22.

Students consumed about nine gallons of bottled water per day, or about six ounces per day, per student. Certified water quality specialist Jeff Twitchell, a founding co-owner of Air & Water Quality, Inc, of Freeport, says CDC standards for safe uranium levels are set at a presumed lifetime consumption of two liters per day, with adverse affects even then only expected at rates of “one death per 100,000 people.” 

That, Twitchell says, is an indication that students in Harrison were never in any real danger.

“The real risk is pretty darn low,” he said.

The schools well system was “shocked” with chlorine October 12, and deemed free of coliform October 15. 

SAD 17’s operations committee recommended treatment of the school’s water supply for uranium on October 20, a plan voted on by the full school board November 3.  Following installation of a treatment system, the school’s water was tested again for uranium December 5, by which time levels had dropped to 2.2 microns per liter.

Despite the fix, which Twitchell says came “pretty darn quick, based on the relatively low heath risk,” a vocal group of Harrison parents, backed by selectmen, continued to call SAD 17 officials to the carpet. 

After two weather-related cancellations, school officials met with parents and selectmen at Harrison Elementary January 15.

The primary concern among parents at the meeting was that, while Harrison Elementary has a filtration unit installed when the school was built in 1986, that system was “bypassed” in 2002 before finally being removed in 2007.

“These are relatively low numbers for the state of Maine,” said Twitchell.  “The fact that you had any water treatment on this system in the first place is pretty rare, even at numbers higher than this school is at this time.”

But that statement did not seem to assure Harrison selectman Lisa Villa.  She agreed with Twitchell that other areas of Maine have higher incidences of irradiated water, but noted that her daughter, now a fifth grader, has potentially been consuming uranium at twice to three times acceptable levels since kindergarten.

“I was disturbed to find out that the system was removed,” said Villa.  “We’re talking about children.  They don’t have the ability to just go out and get a bottle of water.  They can’t make that decision.  As adults we need to err on the side of caution.” 

SAD 17 Superintendent Dr. Mark Eastman acknowledged at the meeting that the district did get dinged for removing the filtration system without notifying the state.  However, he said the system was disconnected, and later removed, at the recommendation of Dr. Jerry Lowery, of Blue Hill-based Lowery Systems, Inc.

“We had a relationship with Dr. Lowery,” said Eastman.  “We trusted Dr. Lowery.  Dr. Lowery gave us bad advice.  We probably should have got something in writing from him saying, ‘This is what the tests indicate.  You don’t need this [filtration system].’”

However, Villa said Lowery Systems officials have denied telling the school it could safely remove its water filtration system, or even being consulted.

“Did you talk to Dr. Lowery, personally?” asked Eastman.

“Well, no,” Villa admitted.

Dr. Lowery was unavailable for comment Monday.  However, company president Sylvia Lowery backed up Villa, says SAD 17 was never told it should disconnect Harrison Elementary’s water filtration.

"That's absolutely not true,” she said.  “We did no such thing."

“There’s obviously some question as to whether the well water is any good,” said Bryan Pullen, owner of Summit Springs.  “You can try to play it down, but uranium is pretty serious stuff. 

“No testing was done since 2002,” said Pullen, “so we really don’t know what the kids have consumed.”

SAD 17 facilities director Dave Marshall says uranium levels were not regulated with the Albiri filtration system was that taken out of the Harrison school.  Tests were not required for uranium until this past fall, he said. 

“There are two pages of things they want us to test for, a lot of which I can’t even pronounce,” said Marshall.  “They do test for lots of things but uranium was not one of the things that was on that list.”

“It may not have been regulated,” said Villa, “but it was detected.  The right thing to do, especially when it comes to an elementary school, would have been to keep that system.  I just can’t imagine why somebody would decide, ‘We don’t need it, let’s bypass it.’  If the system was functioning properly, why would you take out that extra layer of filtration?”

“Because the expert said ‘You don’t need it, you’re meeting your regulatory needs’” said school board member Adam Tsapis, of Harrison.  “I don’t know if this guy, Lowery, is feeding uranium-tainted water to his children, but it sounds like the district got a bum steer.”

“We rely on experts like Jeff [Twitchell] and Dr. Lowery to advise us,” said Eastman.  “There’s no question that we acted on their advice.  Did we act on advice that was inappropriate?  Certainly, in retrospect, yeah, we did.  We’re happy to admit that.”

The CDC notes that uranium and radon are more likely to be present when water sources are tapped through bedrock.  Harrison Elementary has a 275-foot-deep, drilled well, and Eastman says that his recent research reveals that uranium is a problem, “up and down the Route 35 corridor.”

“I don’t know if the town [of Harrison] has gone to its citizens to tell them they should be testing for uranium,” he said.

“If this is so dangerous, what are the people in Harrison doing to correct the problem at their own homes?” asked school director Don Gouin, of Norway.  “Kids are going to drink more water at home than they are in school.”

“That’s a private issue,” said Charles Landers, Jr., whose grandchild attends Harrison Elementary. “We’re talking about a school.  We’re talking about you people being responsible for our children.”

“If people want to feed their children poison, I guess they can do it,” said Pullen.  “That’s an individual responsibility.  We’re trusting in you when we send our kids to school.”

“Well, I get defensive when people imply that we don’t care about their children,” said Gouin.  “That bothers me a lot, because we do.  There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

“How can you sit there and say that when the actions you guys have taken don’t reflect what you’re saying?” asked Landers.

“You wait just a minute, pal,” said Gouin.  “We hired the so-called expert to tell us what to do.”

“But there’s no records of any of that,” Landers shot back.  “Are we supposed to just take your word?”

“What do you think — we’re just going to lie to you?” asked Gouin.

“Well, we’ve been lied to many times on this matter,” said Landers.

“No,” said Gouin.  “Not from us you haven’t, mister.”

Although no school official rebutted Landers' “no records” claim, Twitchell seemed to back up the belief that the original filtration system was not needed.

“I can tell you that the drinking water program would not have required that system at the time it was put in, based on the tests I’ve seen,” he said.

Still, Pullen hammered on the fact that the SAD 17 failed to test for uranium for six years after removing the filtration system.  He also noted that while a note was sent home with all 185 Harrison students about the coliform issue, notification about the uranium contamination was limited to newspaper ads and public postings.

“That was just an oversight,” said Harrison Principal Kim Ramharter.  “I was not trying to keep any information away [from parents].”

“I don’t know where you want to go with this,” said school board Chairman Ron Kugell.  “People in the system acted in good faith on recommendations they received from people who should have been knowledgeable about this whole thing.  A problem arose.  The school system acted immediately to correct it.  The problem is now corrected.

“What’s the sense of pointing fingers?” asked Kugell.  “We can break down into an argument or a fist fight, if you want, but if you are concerned about [uranium] here at school, you should be triply concerned about it in the home.  Maybe some good can come of this, but water over the dam is over the dam.  There’s no point in beating it to death now.

“If we were in a situation where this hadn’t been addressed, if we were sitting on our hind ends doing nothing, then you people would have a legitimate complaint,” said Kugell.

Villa continued to press, asking why the filtration system was removed, and why no testing was done for uranium after that.  Had it not been for the detection of coliform, she said, parents might still be unaware of any uranium issue at the school.

“What you’re saying is true, but what’s that got to do with today?” asked Kugell.

“Well, are you going to shut the system down again a year from now, and not tell anybody?” asked Pullen.

“I don’t know, do you think we will?” asked Kugell.

“You did it before,” said Pullen.

“Under advice from the expert,” said Kugell, stressing each word individually.  “I have to wonder if you are really being serious with me when you say that, or if you are just trying to grandstand.

“If you really think that we would do that, then I question your intelligence,” said Kugell.

“Well, I’m wondering why it happened before,” said Pullen.

“You’ve been told why,” said Kugell, raising his voice.  “You either believe it, or not.  You either accept it, or not.  But that’s got nothing to do with where we’re going now.”

At that, Eastman jumped in to say, whether required by state regulation or not, SAD 17 will test for uranium every year at all four district schools with drilled wells — in Harrison, Hebron, Otisfield and Waterford.

“We will be happy to publish the results of uranium tests in the school newsletters, henceforth,” said Eastman.

“You guys are very, very lucky to have these kinds of people [in charge of the schools], based on what I see,” said Twitchell.  In many public waters systems, he said, problems are not fixed “until someone threatens to put the handcuffs on.”

“I do a lot of schools, and a lot of public systems,” said Twitchell.  “There’s lots of violations out there.  You don’t even want to know how long the list is, and what the state of Maine is trying to do to get people to act, and the hoops they are having to jump through.  But they just mention it to these guys [the SAD 17 school board] and they are all over it.” 

Although the January 15 appeared to end in a sort of detente between parents and school directors, Villa said she is not finished.  She hopes, she said, to convince Lowery to put in writing its claims that it never advised removal of Harrison Elementary’s water filtration system.

“This is about accountability,” she wrote in an email, Monday. 

The concern, she said, is that in four hours of phone calls to Eastman and to officials at the Maine Drinking Water Program, uranium was never revealed as an issue.  It was not until she switched from identifying herself as a parent to referencing her status as a selectman, Villa says, that she began to “get answers.”

“I was disturbed by this,” wrote Villa.  “It should be just as easy for a parent to get accurate information as a selectman.”

“It's not only about my daughter,” said Villa, “it's about the other children whose parents are working and miss the forms sent home or whose parents don't understand the depth of the problem.  It needs to be right for all children, not just for mine.”