HOWELL, Mich. – Officials in the Howell Public Schools district say tests show elevated levels of lead at one of the district's elementary schools.

Two tests showed elevated lead levels at Northwest Elementary School. The district says portable water coolers will be used at the school as officials try to find the problem.

Samples collected tested at 0.016mg/L and 0.039 mg/L. The standard set by the EPA is 0.015 mg/L.

More water tests will be conducted Friday to verify the original water test results.

"The safety of our students and staff is always one of our top priorities," said Erin MacGregor, Howell Public Schools, superintendent. "We began water testing with our older elementary schools and will continue to test each building in the district."

The district conducted tests in each of its 11 school buildings. It received results for four buildings. Southeast, Southwest and Challenger elementary schools came back as “lead safe” and within the Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable levels.

The results for the remaining seven buildings are expected in the near future.

"We are taking the elevated levels at Northwest very seriously. We will be conducting a second more extensive round of testing with representatives from the city of Howell and their experts and have asked that the test results be expedited. The second round of testing will either verify the test results or disprove them," said MacGregor. "If the second round of testing shows that we do indeed have elevated levels, we will immediately begin working to identify and correct the problem. The water coolers will remain in place until we receive test results that are within safe levels."

Howell Public Schools sent the following communication to all parents:

Dear Northwest Elementary Families,

At Howell Public Schools, the safety of our students and staff is a top priority. In light of the current water crisis in Flint, our district decided to be proactive and begin lead testing in each of our 11 school buildings.

At two test sites within Northwest Elementary, test results showed elevated lead levels. These levels are drastically lower than what have been found in the city of Flint. However, as a result of this, we will be placing water coolers and portable water at Northwest Elementary for students and staff. These water coolers will remain in place until we can confirm that the water is safe.

The test results from both Southeast and Southwest, which are the same age as Northwest, came back lead free. This led us to believe that we may have received inaccurate test results from the original Northwest sample.

As a result, we will be conducting a second more extensive round of testing tomorrow morning with representatives from the City of Howell and their experts and have asked that the test results be expedited. The second round of testing will either verify the test results or disprove them.

If the second round of testing shows elevated levels once again, we will immediately begin working to locate the problem, take corrective action and retest the water to ensure that it is safe and within the EPA’s acceptable levels. If corrective action is needed it is likely that the repairs will be minor such as replacing a faucet or water pipe.

Rest assured that we are taking this matter very seriously. As we work through this process, I will keep each of you updated.

Sincerely,

Erin J. MacGregor

Superintendent Howell Public Schools