LUSD must develop Henderson Middle School plan
A state agency has ordered Lodi Unified School District to develop a plan to address contaminated well water at Henderson School after high levels of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, or TCP, were discovered at the school site earlier this year.
The San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department found elevated levels of TCP, a known carcinogen, well above the allowed limit during testing that took place in May and June, according to Robert McClellon, program coordinator and registered environmental health specialist for SJCEHD.
“We issued the compliance order on July 12 of this year, and that was in response to sample results collected on May 3 and then confirmation samples on June 26,” McClellon said.
A routine test on Feb. 6 showed no detectable levels of TCP, according to the compliance order, but a second routine test on May 3 showed 0.000200 milligrams per liter.
As the May 3 results were above the maximum contaminant level for TCP of 0.000005 mg/L, McClellon said a confirmation sample was taken on June 26 that showed 0.000570 mg/L, approximately nine times the allowed level.
“If a sample reaches half of the MCL, the site goes on quarterly monitoring,” McClellon said. “If the sample exceeds that, a compliance order is issued and a corrective action plan is required.”
According to the corrective action plan issued by Quality Services, Inc., the company that operates Henderson’s well, bottled water has been provided for drinking and portable hand washing stations were installed outside of the campus’ restrooms while additional corrective measures are explored.
A notice was issued on July 13 advising Henderson students, parents and staff that the contamination did not constitute an emergency, according to Leonard Kahn, the district’s chief business officer, who said that foaming hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed in the school’s classrooms in addition to the bottled water and hand washing stations.
The district is also working with the California State Water Resources Control Board to develop short-term solutions such as reimbursing the school for bottled water and installing filtration systems, Kahn said, as well as longterm solutions such as digging a deeper well.
“The concern there is that we could be tapping into the same water source,” Kahn said. “The ideal goal would be to hook up to a large water supplier such as the City of Lodi, and the State Water Board would pay for that hook-up.”
Quality Services will have until Feb. 26, 2019 to select a course of action, the plan said, although the necessary construction and modifications may not be complete until May 31, 2021.
The local chapter of the California School Employees Association issued a verbal complaint to Lodi Unified School District as soon as they became aware of the contamination toward the end of August, followed by a written complaint on Sept. 11, according to an email from Kyle Harvey, CSEA labor relations representative.
“CSEA is hopeful the district will proceed as soon as possible to protect staff and students from needless exposure to TCP,” Harvey wrote.
Besides the potential to cause cancer, short-term exposure to TCP can irritate the eyes and throat, and affect muscle coordination and concentration, according to the written complaint, while longterm exposure can affect body weight and kidney function.
School board member Ron Heberle brought up the contamination issue during a meeting on Tuesday and directed district staff to find solutions to the issue as quickly as possible.
“When this first came to the board maybe a year ago, we didn’t know the full scope of the problem. My impression is that we now have a deeper understanding of the problem, and it’s got to be fixed as soon as possible,” Heberle said on Thursday. “When you’re talking about the safety of students and employees, that’s key for me. We just can’t put employees and kids in a lessthan-great situation, we’ve got to take care of them.”
The contamination issue will be discussed further during the next school board meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the James Areida Education Support Center, 1305 E. Vine St., Lodi.