High arsenic levels found in drinking water at Silverton's Victor Point Elementary School

Tracy Loew
Statesman Journal

Students and staff at Silverton’s Victor Point Elementary School are being supplied with bottled water following the discovery of unsafe amounts of arsenic in the school’s well water.

A sample of drinking water collected Sept. 10 showed arsenic levels at 26.5 parts per billion, more than twice the federal safe drinking water standard of 10 ppb.

A previous sample, taken July 24, showed arsenic levels at 17.6 ppb, also above the federal action level.

The district got the results of the second test on Sept. 17, and released a letter notifying the community on Sept. 23.

In their letter, district officials said that while arsenic levels are above the federal safe drinking water standard, they are below the state-set level, of 35 ppb, known to cause acute harm.

Victor Point Elementary School.

That means there's not an immediate health hazard, but drinking the water for a long period could cause health problems. 

The water still is safe for washing hands, dishes and other surfaces, district officials said.

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District spokesman Derek McElfresh said officials waited to tell the community about the problem until they received results of the follow-up sample because the first sample was taken during the summer when the building was unoccupied.

“When the building is shut down like that and you don’t have a lot of water use, sometimes you can have levels that spike,” said Lorin Stanley, the district’s maintenance and facilities director. “As soon as water use resumes, they go down.”

The school year started Sept. 3, with teachers and other staff returning in late August.

Oregon requires quarterly testing following a sample with high arsenic levels, and uses a running annual average of those samples to determine whether a water system must take action, said Greg DeBlase, an environmental health specialist for the Marion County Health Department who has been working with the district. 

The state doesn't require public notification. 

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But the district decided to do a second sample right away, McElfresh said, and to tell the public soon after the results were in.

“In the interest of the safety of the students, we decided it was better to take another sample now, get a confirmation, and implement some fixes,” he said.

The Oregon Health Authority’s drinking water database shows that Victor Point had an additional test with a high arsenic level, of 12.3 ppb, in September 2007.

Arsenic has been identified in all but one of the school's other drinking water tests over the past 15 years, but levels have been below the federal limit. 

The school district is working with Marion County and the Health Authority to figure out next steps, McElfresh said.  

The school will continue to use bottled water for drinking and food preparation until another round of sampling, of both source water and at the tap, is complete.

If further samples show the problem is continuing, the district likely will install a system to filter the water before it enters the building, McElfresh said.

Victor Point has about 222 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

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Short term health effects from drinking water with high arsenic levels include stomach pain; nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; heart, lung, liver, immune, nervous or reproductive system disorders; and diabetes.

People who drink water with high levels of arsenic for many years could experience skin damage or circulatory system problems, and may have an increased cancer risk.

Children are more susceptible to high levels of arsenic in drinking water because they drink more water per pound of bodyweight than adults, and because they are passing through important developmental stages, including brain development, according to the Health Authority.

High arsenic levels in wells may come from naturally occurring sources, from certain arsenic-containing fertilizers used in the past, or from industrial pollution, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Contact the reporter at tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779 or follow at Twitter.com/Tracy_Loew