DeKalb School System Begins Testing for Lead in Drinking Water

March 17, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Board of Education has begun testing for lead levels in drinking water at the schools.

Under a new state law, which went into effect January 1, drinking water at all schools built before 1998 must be tested. The school board must also implement a program to reduce potential lead contamination found in the drinking water.

The new law further mandates that if results of a lead test exceed a certain level (twenty parts per billion), the school district must remove the water source immediately and then notify the health department within 24 hours.

School officials also have to notify parents by letter of the affected school and retest the water source three months after correcting the issue.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said DeKalb County High School (built in 1963) was the first of the five schools to be tested last month. Samples from forty six water outlets used for human consumption (water fountains in hallways, teacher lounges, and kitchen and culinary arts faucets) were collected and sent to a certified drinking water laboratory for analysis and all but three passed the test.

“The three taps sampled had results greater than or equal to the action level of twenty two parts per billion per state regulations but none of these are in a place where students use them on a daily basis. One was a water fountain in a portable building behind the school that is not in use and students are not present. Another was a water fountain near the boy’s locker room in the gym that is not in use and has been shut down for several months. The third was a Culinary Arts kettle pot faucet,” said Director Cripps.

The taps will remain turned off until they are replaced or permanently removed.

Director Cripps praised the School System’s Maintenance Team especially Aaron Young for their work on this project.

“Aaron did a fantastic job and we are happy with the results. He has been ahead of this from the get-go. Since the law was passed, he has been researching and taken it on and been spot on with everything,” said Director Cripps.

Young said there could be a simple fix for the outlets that tested high.

“The drinking fountains have filters and there could be particulates stuck in them causing the problem. We can open those up and clean them out. As for the kettle pot faucet, it is usually used for cleaning the kettle but could be used for adding water to the soup or whatever that may be cooked but that too is not a difficult fix. We will do further testing in the near future,” said Young.

The tests must be conducted at least once every other year.

DeKalb Middle School and Smithville Elementary School are to be tested next.

“Our School system is committed to protecting the health of students, teachers, and staff. The system will conduct further testing in all schools in the coming months,” said Director Cripps.

While the major source of lead exposure for children in Tennessee is lead-based paint, lead in plumbing fixtures can add to a person’s overall exposure. Lead exposure from tap water comes from the decay of plumbing or the solder that connects pipes, and the risk is higher in older buildings.

Key points from the law are:

• The legislation took effect January 1, 2019.
• All school districts must develop a policy to test drinking water sources in schools for lead.
• Testing is to occur in schools constructed prior to January 1, 1998.
• If results are greater than 15 parts per billion (ppb) but less than 20 ppb, the school shall conduct testing on an annual basis until retesting confirms the level is less than 15 ppb.
• If results are equal to or greater than 20 parts per billion: ◦The drinking water source must be removed from service.

◦The Department of Health and other state agencies will be notified within 24 hours.

◦The school must notify parents and guardians of students within 5 business days.

◦Retesting of the lead level of the drinking water source must occur within 90 days of any corrective action.

March 16, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Members of the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad are counted on during times of emergencies for body recovery after a drowning, cave rescues, and to help clean up from storm damage among other missions.

Although the Rescue Squad, a non-profit organization, receives funds from the County and City of Smithville the members themselves get no pay and have to rely on fundraisers to help keep the operation viable .

To recoup some of their personal expenses as volunteers, the Rescue Squad is asking the county to allocate $12,000 in the 2019-20 budget for fuel reimbursement to its members.

Captain Dustin Johnson made a formal request during a budget committee meeting of the county commission last Wednesday night.

“We are not asking for any more money as far as our budget. We are asking for $12,000 in fuel reimbursement. It’s getting harder and harder to find volunteers. It used to be that they would come out of the wood work,” said Johnson.

“Our members spend a lot of hours, especially at a drowning. We may work a drowning for a week. I have been there for a month at a time. These volunteers come out during storms and use their own vehicles and chainsaws. We have around 32 members so if you divided that up ($12,000) it would be like $375 per member a year. If possible I would like for you to consider it,” said Captain Johnson.

The county currently donates $22,821 annually to the Rescue Squad as a non-profit organization since it is not considered an entity of county government. The City of Smithville donates $2,000 to the Rescue Squad.

The county upped the ante from $16,000 two years ago to support the Rescue Squad’s plans to purchase a pontoon boat.

Johnson said the Rescue Squad is expensive to operate.

“When I took this over several years ago we had members who didn’t even have pagers. Now the pagers are getting older and we’re trying to buy three new pagers a year and that’s about $400 each. It’s really expensive but we have a lot of fundraisers so we don’t have to come back to you so much. If we didn’t have fundraisers it would really be hard to operate,” added Johnson.

The local rescue squad is also a member of the Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads (TARS).

“We have to pay over $500 a year just to be a member but by being a member we benefit from their training. If we get into a situation in our county I can make a call to TARS and I can have 10 counties here from this region within a couple of hours and we have done that,” said Johnson.

The Rescue Squad has improved services in recent years and plans to continue upgrading as money becomes available. “ I am running three certified divers and we have SCUBA gear but we want to invest in a $50,000 robot with sonar to up our technology,” Johnson concluded.

The budget committee took no action on Johnson’s request Wednesday night but will consider it when finalizing the 2019-20 spending plan to send to the county commission.

March 16, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A state prisoner originally from DeKalb County who escaped Wednesday after walking away from a work detail at the landfill in Clay County is back in custody.

Jackson County authorities announced that 30 year old Travis Eric Patterson is back behind bars. He is being housed in the Jackson County Jail.

Patterson is due to appear in DeKalb County Criminal Court on April 8 to be arraigned after being named in grand jury indictments last November stemming from a drug raid on his Toad Road home on June 20, 2018.

He has been serving the balance of a four year prison sentence in a previous drug case after violating his probation.

Patterson is under indictment for the June offenses which include possession of marijuana (6 ounces) for resale, possession of a schedule II drug (15 grams of methamphetamine), simple possession of a schedule IV drug (xanax), and possession of a firearm by a felon (6 counts- six weapons).