CHANGE MY LOCATION
Local
California News
Multimedia News
Parents can voice concerns about tainted water at school
SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY
Related Topics: BALTIMORE
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Forest Hill Elementary School parents may speak to Maryland Department of the Environment representatives tonight about MTBE contamination in the school’s well.
Since May 2006, the school has been using bottled water or a state-provided double-filtration system for drinking water and wash water a month after the Harford health department found the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether at the Rock Road school.
Recently, spikes in the levels of the additive have been passing through the first filter into the second, requiring the costly replacement of the charcoal filters at the school system’s expense. “I don’t know the exact figures, but I know it’s costing us thousands of dollars each time,” school board President Tom Fidler said.
“I’m hoping we can identify why it’s peaking at some times, and we can educate parents on the risks.”
In December, MTBE spiked at 261 parts per billion — 13 times the minimum “actionable” level when the state recommends filtration, according to a report by Joe Licata, assistant superintendent for operations in Harford public schools.
The additive was still being found in the water after the first filtration cycle, but the second filter made the water safe to use.
Licata was scheduled to attend tonight’s meeting, as were Director of Facilities Patti Jo Beard and County Councilman Chad Shrodes.
MTBE was banned in Maryland last year in favor of ethanol gas additives, but contamination from gasoline spills and leaking underground tanks can seep into underground water sources and remain there for years, according to the MDE.
No clear source of contamination has been identified at Forest Hill, leaving the county and state shouldering the cost of the filtration and any future cleanup.
Fidler said he wanted to connect the school to county public water to bypass the problem, but the county government opposed the idea.
County officials said county pipes would need to be extended outside the “development envelope,” where Harford wants to keep most of its high-density housing.
msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com
