Sunset Sampling Water Again After
Lead Content Comes In High
BY SUSAN USHER
You can't see it. taste it or smell it, but there could
be lead in your drinking water, perhaps more than is
safe to drink over time.
But don't panic; the problem can be remedied.
That's the double message Larry Crim, director of
public utilities at Sunset Beach, is sharing with town
homeowners and renters this week.
"Everything was fine the first six months of test
ing." said Crim, "but in the second six months we had
three households over the limit on lead. Two were real
high and one was slightly elevated."
Since July 1, 1993, public water systems have been
required to sample for lead and copper contaminants.
Sunset Beach has 20 regular sampling sites and 20
back-up sites, all homes built between 1982 and 1987,
plumbed with copper and having lead solder, and with
no point-of-use filter system.
Residents take the samples themselves, removing
the strainer from the kitchen faucet, flushing the system
well with running water, and then letting the water
siaiui in lite pipes ai icasi ma Iiuuii ui uvcmighi before
taking the sample.
In the last round of tests, three homes exceeded the
EPA's standard of 15 parts of lead per billion.
When that happens, said Crim, federal regulations
require thai the town rcsample at homes and do addi
tional testing at street-side to check that there is no prob
lem with the town's part of the system, that the lead is
only coming from within the residential plumbing.
"We don't have any lead in our system," said Crim.
"so it has to be on the homeowner's side." The home
owner's side includes the service line leading from the
meter to the house and the plumbing that serves the
house.
The town is also required to educate its 2,350 to
2,400 water customers on the potential hazards of lead
in drinking water, and what they can do about it
Lead enters drinking water primarily as a result of
corrosion, or wearing away, of materials containing
lead, such as lead-based solder used to join copper pipe,
brass and chrome-plated brass faucets, and in some cas
es, pipes made of lead that connect the house to the
town's water main.
When water stands for several hours in lead pipes
or in plumbing systems containing lead, the lead may
dissolve into the drinking water. That means the first
water drawn from the tap in the morning, or in the af
ternoon on return from school or work, can contain
fairly high levels of lead.
Lead in drinking water rarely is the sole cause of
lead poisoning but can make up 20 percent or more of a
person's total exposure to lead, according to the EPA,
especially for infants who drink formula or juke con
centrates mixed with water.
If too much lead gets in someone's body, it poses a
significant health risk, particularly to young children
and pregnant women.
Lead builds up in the body over time and can cause
damage to the brain, red blood cells and kidneys.
Amounts of lead that won't hurt adults can slow down
normal mental and physical development of growing
bodies.
Other sources of lead that children routinely come
in contact with include dust and dirt, which makes it
important to wash their hands and toys often and to try
to make sure they only put food in their mouths.
When a home has elevated lead levels in its drink
ing water supply there are steps that can be taken to re
duce exposure, according to Crim.
These include:
? using water from the cold water tap for drinking
and cooking, instead of the hot water tap;
? periodicaiiy flushing ciie iincs (remove Miaiuci,
run water 3 to 5 minutes) to remove loose lead solder
and debris from plumbing materials installed in new
homes or homes in which the plumbing has been re
placed recently;
? check to see if your copper pipes are joined with
lead solder that has been installed illegally since it was
banned in 1986. If so. notify the plumber and ask that
the lead solder be replaced with lead-free solder. Lead
solder looks dull gray and when scratched with a key
looks shiny.
? contact the plumbing contractor that installed
your system or hire a licensed plumber to sec if the ser
vice line that leads from the public water main to your
residence is made of lead. If so, you'll need to have the
line replaced with copper, steel iron or plastic pipe.
? have an electrician check your home's wiring. If
grounding wires are attached to the pipes, it could in
crease corrosion. Find out if the wiring can be ground
ed elsewhere; don't try to change it yourself.
More extreme options include purchasing or leasing
a home nitration/treatment device that removes lead or
puichasing bottled water for drinking and cooking.
Contact the county health department (253-4381) or
state public water supply section (919-733-2321) if lead
solder was illegally installed in your home, or to find
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have a child's blood tested for the presence of lead.
Sunset Beach Town Hall has building permit
records th?t could list the plumbing contractor that
plumbed a particular home.
Pickets Must Go Back Up On Porches
BY SUSAN USHER
Why not rip out the picket* across
the front of your beach house porch,
install a screen to keep out the bugs,
sit back and enjoy the breeze and an
improved view?
Ask Sunset Beach Building In
spector Dan Cordell: It may be an
increasingly popular to remove the
railing, but it violates state building
code. It's a safety hazard, especially
for unsuspecting children.
Cordell believes most property
owners aren't aware of either prob
lem when they rip the pickets from
their porches, especially when they
look up the street and a neighbor's
done the same thing.
"Legally I can post a condemna
tion notice," he said, and that's what
he's doing, though he had hoped
town council could suggest a faster,
more diplomatic solution when ap
proached last week. He had already
tried talking with rental agencies to
see if they could address the problem
to homeowners, without success.
Cor tic II is not abruptly shutting
down affected rental houses, but
posting each picket -free cottage with
a notice of unsafe conditions and no
tifying the owners by letter. If the
property owner fails to take "prompt
corrective action" to replace the
pickets, a hearing will be held with
the inspector and an order to correct
issued. That order can be appealed
to the town council.
The maximum length of time in
volved in the process would be 60
days, past the peak rental season,
unless Cordell finds "imminent dan
ger to life and property." Then the
time frame can be shortened.
"We need to give them some time
to correct it," said Councilwoman
Cherri Cheek. "It will be difficult for
carpenters to get in there while peo
ple are renting."
"The first kid that falls through
the screen porch and is killed, we'll
forget our liberal 'give them time'
position," suggested Councilman
Herb Klinker.
Council also told Coidell he
doesn't need to continue acting as an
informal advisor to individuals who
decide to serve as their own general
contractor, but don't know what
they're doing.
"We don't have enough time to
babysit one person trying to save
some money," Cordell told council,
suggesting his department begin of
fering journeyman testing to insure
that anyone who derides to be their
own contractor is qualified to do so.
But testing could be "an adminis
trative nightmare," Councilman
Herb Klinker suggested.
Instead, town Attorney Mike Is
enberg suggested he simply do what
state law allows the inspector to do.
"You a in just issue a stop work or
der," Ik said. "Then it's up to them
to bring the work into compliance
with the code."
A re-inspection fee can be
chargcd every tune work must be
torn out and rebuilt and re inspected
for compliance.
Cordell received support from
council if no quick solution to an
other concern of his.
He had been requiring permits for
major re roofing work, thinking it
was an oversight that roofs weren't
specifically covered in the state
building code.
The town wasn't making any
money off the permits, but the
process allowed him to inspect work
in progress and make the contractor
do it again if it wasn't done right.
But Cordell was "backed to the
wall" in a challenge and lost. State
code, it turns out, allows major re
pairs of a roof and even placing a
roof of the same grade and type of
material over an existing roof, with
out a permit.
**! tried my best to have that clause
pulled out but the (State Building)
Code Council wouldn't a a cm it."
But Cordell isn't giving up. At his
request, council authorized Town
Attorney Mike Isenberg to draft a
resolution to send to state legislators
asking them to support an amend
ment to change the defective law.
"1 would like to see the law
changed," said Cordell. "There's
nothing protecting these homeown
ers.
S40 OOP WILL ENABLE CASAS TO CONTINUE
Grants To Fund Child Care Program
A series of grants from the State
Board of Community Colleges will
fund special projects in basic skills
and provide assistance to single par
ents attending Brunswick Com
munity College next school year.
Anita White, director of compen
satory education at BCC and a state
CAS AS literacy trainer, has received
two basic skills demonstration pro
ject grants from the state board.
A $40,000 grant will enable BCC
to continue using CASAS, the Com
prehensive Adult Student As
sessment System, in its own literacy
program, to train other instructors in
the southeastern region, and to de
velop curriculum and resource mate
rials to fit each basic skills program
site.
Another $25,878 will be used to
rework the curriculum guide used by
the Brunswick Interagency Program,
the compensatory education pro
gram based at BCC.
"The curriculum we're using was
written in 1984 and it's not really
been looked at in 10 years. Our staff
members are looking into rewriting
it It needs to be more specific, more
workable.
"Unless you have a really creative
instructor you have difficulty mak
ing it work for teachers or students,"
she said.
The existing objectives of the cur
riculum are too broad and don't re
late directly to the quality standards
the programs arc expected to meet.
"Programs need to be able to
show their progress in relation to the
standards," she said.
Another state grant of $30,639 to
BCC will help single parents in fi
nancial need to continue their educa
tion by providing childcare.
"Some students are able to fulfill
a lifelong dream because of our
childcaic program," said Marcia
Pittman. "Last year we were able to
help quite a few students. It's a min
istry."
The program attempts to pay 100
percent of all chiidcare expenses for
eligible full-time students with non
school age children. Where appro
priate. some after-school care is pro
vided.
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