School Gets Bottled Water—

Middle Gate Water Samples Show High Uranium Levels

By Steve Bigham

The discovery of high levels of uranium in several Newtown wells, including the well for Middle Gate School, has prompted local officials to begin widespread testing of water supplies.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning at a press conference conducted by First Selectman Herb Rosenthal and Health District Director Mark Cooper. It comes just one day after Middle Gate School parents were alerted of test results that showed the school’s water supply was well above state guidelines for uranium levels.

The tests will be done randomly along five different bedrock formations around town to determine the extent of the problem. It is believed to be the first time that this kind of townwide uranium testing has ever been done in the state. According to Mr Cooper, his department has identified approximately 50 homes where it hopes to collect water samples.

“Right now we don’t know how much of a problem there is, but we’d like to find out what the magnitude of the situation is by testing wells,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The testing will be done on a voluntary basis and will be paid for by the State of Connecticut. Employees of the Newtown Health District will conduct the tests.

“We’d like to urge the residents of Newtown to cooperate with the testing because it will be to their benefit and the town and state will be able to come to some conclusions,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Town officials warned residents not to read too much into this week’s announcement. For the most part, they say, this is simply a “pro-active” project to make sure that Newtown and the surrounding area is not overly susceptible to high uranium levels.

The Water At Middle Gate

On Tuesday, Middle Gate School parents were notified that the school’s uranium test results showed an elevated level of 211 pico curies per liter (pCi/L). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guideline for allowable amounts of uranium in drinking water is 15 pCi/L.

 Dr Reed this week said the school system tested each school back in November after hearing a report last October about the Marks family of Newtown, whose drinking water was found to have an extremely high uranium content. The test results came back in December, but were only released to the public this week.

“While I understand that uranium is found nearly everywhere in the air, water, food, and soil, I am taking the precaution this Wednesday of starting Middle Gate School on bottled water for drinking purposes,” Dr Reed told parents.

The drinking water at the Marks residence at 3 Sweet Meadow Road was found to have 800 pCi/L back in October. A follow-up test performed by state officials showed levels to be 1,049 pCi/L. Ed and Tammy Marks, who attended Wednesday’s press conference, believe the high uranium levels have caused their children to suffer health problems.

Mr Cooper, who said testing will begin next week, called the project a data gathering effort to get a “cross section” of the uranium levels around the various bedrock formations in town. The tests will also help show what role different yields and the depths of wells play in the existence of high uranium levels.

“We’re trying to get different representations of the five different bedrock formations in Newtown,” Mr Cooper said, pulling out a bedrock geology map showing the locations of the different bedrock groupings. “We’re trying to see if this kind of information provides us with any insight as to what kind of predictive values there might be so that we can recommend people do tests for uranium, if in fact we find any.”

Letters seeking permission to conduct testing were to be sent out to the specific property owners late this week.

“The district has no reason to believe that the selected homes have elevated uranium levels. However, it should be noted that the district has no data to rule it out either,” Mr Cooper said. “That is the basis of this study – the first of its kind in Newtown and the State of Connecticut – to determine the possible extent and magnitude of the presence of uranium in local well water supplies.”

Middle Gate School had high levels of radon in its drinking water several years ago, Mr Cooper said.

Uranium is a non-regulated, naturally occurring metal that is found just about everywhere in nature, including high concentrations in both potatoes and bananas.

 “Everyone has some levels of uranium in them,” said Mr Cooper, who points out that there is very little data available on its risk to health or to the extent it is found in well water.

Mr and Mrs Marks, who have lived at that their current address with five children for the past five years, says she became suspicious of her drinking water after a hair analysis procedure revealed high levels of uranium. Since then, tests revealed that each of her children suffer from low bone mass. She also wonders whether her children’s state of poor dental health might also be related.

“It’s just a naturally occurring thing in the ground. We just happened to tap into it. I believe ours is the highest level the state has ever seen,” Mrs Marks said three months ago.