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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Driver dead in single-vehicle crash near Ashland ... Old buildings, new buildings and public art on agendas ... Ticket availability ... Driver dead in single-vehicle crash near Ashland ... Old buildings, new buildings and public art on agendas ... Ticket availability ... ASHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT Tests say school drinking water is safe Samples taken from schools come back well below EPA's lead 'action level' Comment By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@Joe_Zavala99 DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@Joe_Zavala99 Posted Jun. 16, 2016 at 5:29 PM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@Joe_Zavala99 Posted Jun. 16, 2016 at 5:29 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Ashland drinking water supplies free of lead contamination • Chris Honoré: Depraved indifference in Michigan • Health Watch: Easy tips to drink more water throughout the day... » Social News Those who have had second thoughts about quenching their thirst at a drinking fountain at one of Ashland’s schools following recent lead scares in Oregon, have no fear: the district’s water supply is virtually lead-free, according to a recent study. According to tests conducted at all of Ashland’s public schools in April by Neilson Research Corporation of Medford, the water flowing out of the district’s drinking fountains and kitchen sinks have trace amounts of lead far below the Environmental Protection Agency’s “action level” of 15 parts per billion. “So in a nutshell, we are in good shape,” Ashland director of facilities and maintenance Gary Sisk wrote in an email to superintendent Jay Hummel a day after Neilson released its April 13 report. Neilson on April 7 took water samples from nine sites: Ashland High School, Ashland Middle School, Walker Elementary, Helman Elementary, Bellview Elementary, Willow Wind Community Learning Center, the Ashland maintenance shop and shuttered schools Lincoln Elementary and Briscoe Elementary. John Muir School shares its water supply with AMS. The samples, taken from a total of 25 sinks and fountains district wide, were tested on April 12, about six weeks before The Oregonian reported that two Portland public schools had unsafe levels of lead, and the findings were about as good as the district could have hoped for. The highest levels of lead Neilson detected flowed out of a work room at Helman, a break room sink at Briscoe, the drinking fountain at Ashland High’s Walter A. Phillips Field and the Walker gym drinking fountain, and none of those were high enough to cause concern. The test of Helman’s “quad D work room” revealed a lead reading of 0.00822 according to the report released by the district Tuesday, or 8.22 parts per billion — about 55 percent of the EPA’s action level. The break room sink at Briscoe had 6.69 parts per billion, the drinking fountain at Phillips Field 6.2 parts per billion and the Walker gym fountain 6.0 parts per billion. Twenty of the 21 remaining samples had less than three parts per billion, the one exception being the district’s maintenance shop, which had 5.52 parts per billion. “Looks like we’re good,” Hummel said. “We don’t have that problem. “We were kind of surprised for some reason — (Sisk) and I both, just because the nature of our facilities and other challenges from time to time that we’ve run into with the plumbing issues in old buildings. But I think we sort of err on that side of caution. I think that’s Gary’s tendency, so I think our facilities are better cared for than frankly they probably appear and that’s because of his hard work and diligence.” The middle school’s water supply tested as the district’s cleanest, and Lincoln and Walker had the highest lead readings. Of the four sinks and fountains tested at AMS the highest lead reading was a kitchen sink that had 1.66 parts per billion. The other three tests at the school were less than one part per billion, including a hall fountain in which no lead was detected. Walker’s gym fountain had by far its highest lead reading, as two other tests there came back with 2.74 parts per billion and 1.56 parts per billion. At Lincoln, which closed its doors in 2005, water spewing out of its kitchen sink measured 2.83 parts per billion, but two other tests there both came back with less than one part per billion. Hummel said after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, made national headlines in January, prompting an Ashland parent to ask him about the district’s water supply, he brought the subject up to Sisk. Hummel said Sisk’s research revealed that the district had tested its water about five years ago and was deemed safe, but Hummel gave the go-ahead for a re-test, just in case. “Our schools are getting old,” Hummel said. “We’ve got old pipes and all kinds of other stuff here, and so you do wonder. It was just a moment that kind of triggered the opportunity to do it again.” Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Zavala99. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@Joe_Zavala99 DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@Joe_Zavala99 Posted Jun. 16, 2016 at 5:29 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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