SCHOOL LEAD WATER FORUM RAISES QUESTIONS, CONCERNS; AND WHY IS THE MOST TOXIC FOUNTAIN STILL ON?

District, health and environmental officials at lead forum

About 50 residents and parents attended a lengthy community forum Saturday morning at Seth Boyden School to demand answers and hear new details related to the recent findings of unacceptable levels of lead in several drinking sources at five district schools.

The meeting that included district officials, school board members and health officers from Maplewood and South Orange followed Monday's revelation that nine drinking water sources at five schools had levels above the 15ppb lead limit, including one drinking fountain at Seth Boyden that tested at 444ppb.

The infamous "444" fountain at Seth Boyden was still on

School district officials said that all of the drinking water sources found to be above the limits had been shutdown and were being retested. But when we checked on the Seth Boyden fountain found to have the 444 ppb limit, it was only covered with plastic and was still providing water.

During the meeting, district officials also claimed that setting up lead testing in students was difficult and limited in terms of funding. Maplewood Health Officer Robert Roe, however, said the Township would seek to provide such testing for any family that needed it. A representative of The Lew Corporation of Mountainside, which conducted the recent testing, also spoke.

See those comments below:

Later in the meeting several residents and parents spoke out about the need for more information and asked questions about how and why the testing was done and their fears for children's health. 

See those comments below: