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High lead levels in 5 kids in Ohio town with tainted water

4 min read
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SEBRING, Ohio – Five children so far have elevated lead levels in a northeastern Ohio village where lead-tainted drinking water has been detected, health officials said Wednesday.

It’s too early to know whether the positive tests are directly linked to the tap water in Sebring near Youngstown or if they could be tied to other sources such as lead paint, county and state health officials said.

The Ohio Health Department sent a team of investigators to meet with the children and their families Wednesday to determine if the water could be the cause, said director Richard Hodges.

Almost all lead cases are usually linked to sources other than water, he said. “We can’t discount the fact the water may be playing a role,” he said.

Residents in Sebring and two other communities were told late last week that high levels of lead had been found last summer in the drinking water.

Tests over the last few days have shown that lead readings have gone down, but a few places still were showing levels above federal guidelines.

Parents and residents are angry that months passed before they were told about tainted water.

Environmental regulators said the operator of the small water system failed to notify the public and falsified reports, but plant superintendent James Bates denied he falsified reports, calling the allegations an “outright lie.”

Documents obtained by the Associated Press show that the state EPA accused Bates in 2009 of repeatedly violating state rules over the previous several years and operating the plant in a manner that endangered public health.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said children who test above five micrograms of lead per deciliter are considered to have been exposed to lead, which can cause learning disabilities and behavior problems in children.

Many researchers say no amount is safe for youngsters.

Krystle Welty, of Sebring, was told to see a doctor after her 1-year-old daughter showed a lead level of 6.7 following a screening on Sunday.

She said she breastfeeds and sometimes puts tap water in her daughter’s juice.

“I’m extremely angry and worried,” she said. “It’s all overwhelming.”

Three of the five children who tested above the CDC threshold live on the same street, said Chris Cunningham, director of nursing with the Mahoning County Health Department.

All of the children were tested Sunday at a clinic organized after reports of lead in the water surfaced. None of the readings in the five was high enough to require specific medical treatment outlined by the CDC, Cunningham said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires all drinking water utilities to test for lead. The frequency of the testing can range from six months to every three years, depending on past lead levels.

The last time Sebring tested its drinking water was in 2012 because it had not experienced problems with lead in previous years, according to the state EPA.

Residents in the rural area of about 8,100 people near Youngstown are demanding to know why they were kept in the dark for months.

Anger and frustration have been boiling over since Jan. 21, when the village warned children and pregnant women shouldn’t drink the tap water.

A standing-room-only crowd filled a council meeting Monday night, demanding answers and action.

The mayor told one mother whose son showed elevated lead levels that it was too early to blame the water entirely, prompting a chorus of jeers.

Schools have been closed for three straight days, and bottled water is being passed out.

“They need to fix the problem,” Tonya Ludt said while picking up water Tuesday. “Forget about the finger-pointing and blaming. Fix it.”

Mark Hughes, who owns a diner and three rental homes in Sebring, said the village has a moral obligation to tell people what’s going on with their water.

“I want all my residences and restaurants tested so we know where we stand,” he said.

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