Lead found in Penn State Tyson Building water, as building occupants worry about exposure
Lead contaminants were found in water samples taken last month from Penn State’s Tyson Building, and now students, staff and faculty that use the building are wondering if they were exposed to unsafe levels of lead.
At a town hall Friday morning, members of Penn State’s Office of the Physical Plant, the College of Agricultural Sciences leadership, director of Environmental Health and Safety and Occupational Medicine answered questions about the lead contamination from faculty, staff and graduate students who work in Tyson Building.
A representative from Occupational Medicine said the most at-risk group is women who are or were pregnant at the time lead was detected in the water at Tyson Building. She recommended building occupants ask their health care provider for a blood test if they have concerns.
There is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe, according to the World Health Organization, and children and developing fetuses are considered particularly vulnerable.
An occupationally safe (meaning able to return to work) blood lead level for adults is below 40 micrograms per deciliter of blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An elevated blood lead level is anything over 5 micrograms per deciliter.
Officials, including College of Agricultural Sciences Dean Richard Roush, also discussed how to relay the test results and future action to students. They talked about sending communications only to plant science majors or students who had classes in the building. Steven Loerch, senior associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, said students would be notified Friday of the test results and further action.
Erin Connolly, Plant Science department head, said that due to restructuring, three classrooms in Tyson were taken over by different departments with students from a variety of different majors. Three plant science majors who did not attend the town hall said Friday they were first notified of the water problems via signs posted on water fountains Tuesday.
Staff members suggested other locations OPP should test for lead, including ice machines, greenhouse building water fountains and kitchenette and bathroom sinks. They also reported brown or orange water in Ferguson Building, Carpenter Building, Frear North Building and Mueller Lab, which are located in close proximity to Tyson.
OPP said it is collecting additional water samples at 14 locations throughout the building and is asking that the results be expedited.
Penn State’s Office of the Physical Plant said it first received a complaint of discolored, orange water in Tyson Building on Nov. 14 and 11 days later sampled the water from the Room 310 kitchenette and third-floor water fountain. OPP tested for iron and copper, which met state and federal drinking water standards, but did not test for lead.
“When we did the test on that it was presumed that it was just because (the water) had just been sitting and it hadn’t been flushed and we were trying to figure out what the cause of the turbidity was, and so we put the building on a constant flush cycle,” said Loerch.
The last time OPP tested for lead in Tyson was in March 2017. That test did not detect lead in the water system. Roush said OPP did not test for lead in November because it was adhering to EPA guidelines, which recommend testing for lead every three years.
On Jan. 9, building occupants collected samples from the third floor and sent them to the Agricultural Analytical Services Lab at Penn State for an aesthetic/corrosivity report, which included lead testing. Last Saturday, building occupants notified OPP that the drinking water tested by the lab showed elevated levels of iron, copper and lead.
Over the month of January, OPP received another complaint of discolored water and fully flushed the building pipes twice. They are now flushing the pipes every Monday morning.
In late January, University Water Services collected samples for lead testing at two locations on Tyson Building’s third floor. The results of those tests showed one sample with 49 parts per billion of lead, above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level of 15 ppb.
On Monday, OPP flushed the building’s pipes and on Tuesday notified the building occupants that it had turned off the water fountains — but not bathroom or kitchenette sinks — and provided bottled water throughout the building due to lead contaminants found in the water system.
On Thursday night, OPP sent its first official communication to the College of Agricultural Sciences about the lead sample results from the Room 310 kitchenette and third-floor water fountain.
During the town hall, several building occupants who have worked in Tyson for over 20 years said they noticed multiple events of discolored water in the building during their tenure. Loerch said the administration wasn’t aware of those brown water incidents.
“Now we’re doing very thorough testing,” said Loerch. In addition to the 14 samples already taken, “we’re taking more samples trying to figure out, is this a chronic problem, what’s the problem and then we’ll fix the problem.”
A representative from OPP said depending on the testing results, it is looking at a project to replace the galvanized pipe in Tyson.
Loerch said testing shows there is no contamination in the source water for Tyson.
The results of OPP’s testing are expected in 10-14 days. OPP is planning to put more signage up in Tyson warning building occupants to not drink the water.
The Daily Collegian reported that in 2016, University Park officials had also found elevated levels of lead in drinking water in three buildings in Nittany Apartments.
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