By Jack Queen, Summit Daily
Testing conducted by the town of Dillon last month again found lead levels in some homes that exceeded the 15 parts per billion limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The new results, which found elevated lead levels in four of 20 homes tested, mark the third time since 2012 that the town has been over the federal limit for lead concentrations in drinking water.
Lead is a neurotoxin that can be particularly harmful to children and pregnant women, presenting a host of mental and physical impairments ranging from lowered IQ to kidney problems. Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1986 to include lead, but older homes with lead solder in their pipes and fixtures are still at risk.
Dillon was first alerted to a lead problem in 2012, when tests showed concentrations as high as 92 ppb. Although no lead has been found in Dillon’s source water, the tests prompted the town to install a $30,000 system to raise the pH of the water and hopefully limit lead corrosion from older pipes.
That led to some reductions, but October’s tests — which targeted higher-risk homes built between 1983 and 1987 — revealed that, at 26 ppb, some of the town’s homes are still exceeding the federal limit.
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