Elevated lead levels reported in Montesano school drinking water

Published 1:30 am Thursday, August 28, 2025

Earlier this spring, the Department of Health (DOH) visited the Montesano School District to collect water samples to test for lead.

Legislation passed in 2021 mandates initial testing in public schools that were built or had all plumbing replaced before 2016; additionally, remediation is required for a lead test result of 5 parts per billion (ppb).

On Aug. 26, the Montesano School District emailed a letter to families and staff notifying them that 57 outlets had elevated lead levels exceeding 5 ppb; a copy of the letter was also posted on their website, but not on Facebook as of Wednesday afternoon.

The letter detailed the steps already taken to address this issue.

“Immediately upon receiving test results, water to outlets with elevated lead levels were shut off or made inaccessible for drinking.

We have added “Hand Wash Only” signs at all sinks and have capped all drinking fountains that tested with high lead levels.

We have replaced faucets in kitchen areas where water is used for food prep and will continue to test those faucets throughout the year.”

Currently, the lab results are only available at the district office, but Superintendent Dan Winter shared via email the lab results will be posted on the school’s website “by the end of the week, and the action plan will be posted as soon as it is completed.” (Since it was the first day of school, Winter was unavailable for an interview but answered questions via email.)

A breakdown of the number of fixtures that exceeded 5 ppb at each location are Simpson Avenue Elementary School — 29, Beacon Avenue Elementary School — 22, and Montesano Junior/Senior High School — 15. A kitchen tap at Beacon Avenue Elementary School had the highest lead test result with 764 ppb, while Simpson’s highest value was 44 ppb, and the Junior/Senior High School was 33 ppb.

According to the DOH’s Lead webpage, “Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. Children six years old and younger are the most affected by lead exposure. Their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do, and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.

“Lead in young children can cause behavior and learning problems, lower IQ, and hearing problems. Lead can also cause slowed growth and anemia in children.

“Lead in adults, including pregnant people, can cause hypertension and increased blood pressure. Lead can also cause kidney and reproductive problems for adults. In pregnant people, lead can be passed to the unborn baby.

“In rare cases, lead can cause seizures, coma, and even death.”

Although the lab reports identified 66 outlets above 5 ppb, the 57 cited in the letter “are in areas that could have been used for drinking water,” Winter shared via email. “The additional nine are in the kitchen areas used for food preparation and those have been shut off and have had new faucets installed but won’t be used until the DOH tests again which we have requested but have not received a testing date yet.”

The Montesano School District received the reports from DOH for Beacon and the Junior/Senior High School on June 20, and the results for Simpson on Aug. 7.

Between 2018-2020, when DOH offered the option for schools to voluntarily test their drinking water for lead, Aberdeen, Elma, McCleary, North Beach, Oakville, Ocosta and Wishkah Valley school districts participated. When asked if there was a reason why Montesano didn’t participate, Winter shared there wasn’t.

As mentioned in the letter, the faucets in the kitchen areas have been replaced. For the cost of replacing thus far, Winter shared that, “I don’t have an exact cost to this point but we have received a grant through OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) to mitigate the issues that we have.”