District targets arsenic in school water

If Jan. 23, 2006, were to come tomorrow, students and staff at two Mat-Su schools would be drinking more arsenic in their water than allowable under federal law.

But Mat-Su Borough School District officials aren't waiting for that day. Instead, they are working to address the problem at Willow Elementary and Teeland Middle before the new, higher standard is implemented.

"We're going to be way ahead of the curve," said Randy Bonnell, who oversees water quality for the school district. He described Assistant Superintendent Bob Doyle, who will be stepping in as interim superintendent next month, as being proactive on the matter.

"He wants it resolved this year," Bonnell told the school board last week. Working with a hydrologist and engineers, he said, the district is looking at either drilling new wells to find water supplies with acceptable arsenic levels or setting up water processing plants at individual schools to remove the arsenic. These plants would cost around $25,000 per site, about the same as drilling several wells, Bonnell said.

"My greatest hope is we can just find an alternate water source," he said. But even in a worst-case scenario in which the arsenic levels can't immediately be dealt with, Bonnell said the district will handle it.

"If there's a problem, we'll be drinking bottled water at that school," he said.

All Mat-Su schools meet existing federal water requirements, but according to recent tests Teeland Middle and Willow Elementary would exceed arsenic limits to be implemented in five years.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the acceptable arsenic level for all of the country's water systems is being reduced from 50 to 10 parts per billion. Recent water tests have shown Teeland's well to have around 16 and Willow's around 30.

"We have a problem and it's not going away," Bonnell told the board. "But the problem isn't as severe as some might think … our levels are relatively low."

EPA, according to Bonnell's report to the board, is continuing to research the affects of arsenic in drinking water, which at high levels is linked to some cancers, skin damage and circulatory problems.

The new guidelines, according to EPA, are designed to avoid less than 30 fatal and less than 26 nonfatal cases of bladder and lung cancers per year in the United States and to reduce overall the frequency of non-carcinogenic diseases that could be blamed on arsenic in water supplies.

Arsenic is a naturally occurring, inorganic material that is released into water supplies through erosion of natural deposits. Water supplies across the country have some arsenic content, but school board member Carl Gatto said Alaska appears to have more of a problem than other areas.

"We could maybe drill forever and not find clean water," Gatto said.

Bonnell agreed that could be a possibility, "But there are things we can do," he added, referring to the water treatment plants.

Mat-Su schools that are not within city water supply areas have their own wells and either a storage or pressure tank. Most of these schools require no treatment of their water supply. Several use softeners or filters to deal with hardness, unwanted tastes or odors or corrosion problems from piping.

The school district isn't alone in having to address the changing arsenic requirements. Bonnell said the cities of Palmer and Wasilla have also contracted with the same engineering group in order to identify and deal with any difficulties in complying with the 2006 regulation.

More information about contaminants and potential health effects is available by calling the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.