Tests show Mt. Greylock water contaminated

By Linda CarmanPrint Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN – Don’t drink the water at Mount Greylock Regional High School, where drinking fountains were closed Friday after tests showed the presence of a potentially harmful chemical, perchlorate, in the school’s wells. The chemical is widely used as a propellant in, among other things, fireworks, which have been set off on the school grounds at graduations and Fourth of July celebrations. The administration has halted the use of any school water for drinking and has shut down the south well completely, according a news release. The south well showed a level of 5.05 parts of perchlorate per billion parts of water — five times the maximum allowed under state standards. The north well showed 1.03 parts per billion but is now used only for washing and flushing toilets. Further tests showed even higher levels, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman said yesterday — 9.6 parts per billion in the south well and 2.4 parts per billion in the north. The south well remains offline, and the school is providing bottled water. The school took samples for the first time this April in accordance with new DEP regulations; no sampling for perchlorate had been previously required. DEP guidlines note that sensitive populations – pregnant women, infants, children up to age 12, and people with hypothyroidism – should not drink water exceeding 1 part per billion, but that higher levels are safe for others. Bottled water is available for drinking at the school, At this point, the investigation has focused on confirming the safety of the school’s water quality. Later, the source of contamination will be investigated. Perchlorate has been linked to rocket fuel, munitions and fireworks. Eva Tor of the DEP said, “Just now we’re getting many of the results, but no other schools in Berkshire County show high levels of perchlorate. If the results are confirmed, we’ll try to find out where this might have come from. The first step is to make sure the numbers are real.” Ammonium perchlorate is highly mobile in water and can persist for many decades, according to the DEP. Perchlorate disrupts normal functioning of the thyroid gland, and, as in iodine deficiency, can stunt growth and affect behavior, movement, speech, hearing, vision and intelligence, the department said. Impaired brain development and lower IQ were observed in children born to even mildly or moderately iodine-deficient mothers. In the absence of a federal drinking water standard, the DEP has developed a draft toxicity value and is working toward the development of standards.
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