Lead levels shock residents

MANCHESTER -- There were a few days when Lori Boutot was told that the water in her home would be shut off for testing.

"They never said what they were testing for," Boutot said, and she was never concerned.

But on Friday, residents of Lakehurst Acres were told that they should consider seeing a doctor.

Lead levels in the water of the 25-unit housing development were high -- in some places more than 100 times higher than federal limits.

"These are definitely some of the highest levels of lead I've seen," said Andrew Smith, state toxicologist for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Federal limits say lead levels in drinking water should not exceed 15 parts per billion -- roughly equivalent to 15 inches in 160 miles.

Water from homes tested in Lakehurst reached into the hundreds and thousands of parts per billion, with one of the highest readings hitting 1,600 parts per billion.

Lead poisoning can affect nearly every system in the body and cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death.

Children are the most at risk to high lead levels because they are still developing.

Until last month, Boutot had been living at Lakehurst Acres with her son, Anthony, 2.

"This is an awful, awful ordeal to go through," said Boutot's father, George, who still lives at Lakehurst. "I'm scared for her baby."

The Boutots had their blood tested for lead this week, but results may not come back until next week.

According to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, lead is potentially present in the environment of almost 80 percent of the housing in Maine.

Exposure to lead is most common in buildings built before 1950 -- when paint contained up to 50 percent lead -- and in buildings built before 1978, before use of it in house paint was outlawed.

For Lakehurst Acres, the cause of the increased lead levels came after its owners -- C&C Realty Management -- installed a filtration system to help eliminate arsenic. Arsenic flows naturally in the ground water of that area of Pond Road, and Lakehurst's drinking water comes from a well.

"Its unfortunate that one thing led to another," said Catherine Whitney, chief operating officer for C&C Realty Management, based in Augusta.

After the installation of the arsenic control equipment, the water grew more acidic and began to corrode and eat away at the water pipes.

"They've never had a lead problem," said Carlton Gardner, compliance and enforcement team leader for the Maine Drinking Water Program with the Department of Health and Human Services.

But before C&C Realty bought the public housing units in January, past owners knew of increased levels of copper in the drinking water.

The federal government mandates that public housing units such as Lakehurst Acres be tested either every three years, every year, or every six months depending on the need.

Records kept by the Maine Drinking Water Program show that six-month tests -- which are administered to high-risk water systems -- have been going on at Lakehurst for more than a year.

"I was never informed of anything," said Boutot, who had been living there since August 2005 but moved five weeks ago to Lewiston. "They never tried to contact me."

The lead levels appeared after the most recent water tests in June, but, according to Smith, it is difficult to say what the health effects could be on Lakehurst's residents.

"A very important consideration is how much water people are drinking," Smith said. "It's fortunate that this exposure has happened over a short period."

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services intends to pay medical fees for residents who do not have access to medical insurance.

C&C, which owns 19 sites throughout the state, has been working on the pipe corrosion problem since they took ownership, and in May started providing residents with bottled water after hearing that copper levels in the water were rising.

"I can't get enough of that now," George Boutot said of the one-gallon jugs of Crystal Springs Water.

The realty company hopes to have a new water-quality system in place within the next few weeks, Whitney said.

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