By WILLIAM M. HARTNETT and ANDREW MARRA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Students and parents at South Fork High School have long complained about the taste, smell and appearance of the school’s water. A top school district official even acknowledged recently that “the water’s never been good there.”

School officials point out that the problem stems from aging facilities and a general distaste for well water, which can be fixed by installing new equipment or hooking up to a new water source.

But a review of state inspection reports by The Palm Beach Post shows that problems at South Fork’s water plant are far more extensive. Department of Environmental Protection records suggest a long-running pattern of lax maintenance and management at the plant dating almost as far back as the school’s opening in 1982.

State documents have cited school officials and plant managers for:

> Failing to notify parents of the dangers of lead in drinking water.

> Leaving water treatment filters in disrepair despite repeated warnings to fix them.

> Multiple overflows of treated sewage containing “solid” human waste.

> Failing to submit complete reports to environmental regulators.

The reports highlight numerous examples of these and other offenses, ranging from mundane paperwork problems to repeated sewage spills.

A DEP inspector visiting the campus in May reported that both sewage filters were “nonfunctional” and that a latch on a chlorine storage shed needed replacing “due to potential for hazardous release of chlorine gas.”

Four months later, both filters still were not working and the latch on the storage shed had yet to be replaced, according to a DEP report.

A supervisor at Azurix, a private company that oversees the operation of the plant, stated in a response to DEP officials in October that he had notified school officials of the need to fix the problems but had not “received final approval.”

Kevin Reich, regional manager of Azurix, would not comment. He said only that the company is responsible for operations, but not for maintenance of the water plant.

Assistant Schools Superintendent Hank Salzler stepped in to supervise the district’s maintenance department after five maintenance officials resigned amid controversy in October over problems unrelated to South Fork.

He could not be reached for comment on the state documents Friday. However, in at least one incident at South Fork’s water plant, Salzler has accused former maintenance officials of ignoring proper procedures.

Robert Washam, Martin County’s environmental health director, said the school district has not always been forthcoming about problems at South Fork.

“We were not part of their process of notification, and sometimes we were being notified but too late,” he said. “But that problem has been resolved. . . . They got rid of the people who didn’t feel they needed to communicate with us.”

State environmental regulators will meet with school district officials Thursday to discuss South Fork’s more recent water problems. DEP records show, however, that problems with the water plant date back to the 1980s.

In March 1988, for example, new federal rules required water system operators to notify consumers of the effects of lead in drinking water. But 16 months later, documents show, the school district still had not issued notices, leading the DEP to warn of federal fines up to $25,000.

And state officials in 1993 scolded the school district for not proposing a plan for testing lead and copper levels in South Fork’s drinking water. A DEP official wrote that the testing plan was “necessary to protect public health,” and called the district’s failure to present one “a serious matter.”

On Oct. 31, the school’s waste-water facility overflowed, spilling 10,000 gallons of raw and partly treated sewage onto school grounds. A DEP report noted that two filters were not working and that the treated sewage was dark and contained “excessive solids.”

SCHOOL ON BOTTLED WATER

Still, South Fork’s water difficulties have resulted from more than just inadequate maintenance.

The school - the only in Martin County with its own wells and sewage treatment plant - is plagued by aging equipment and plumbing. And tests have periodically shown levels of lead and copper in drinking water that exceed federal guidelines. Those results, some of which were attributed to improper sampling, weren’t significant enough to warrant serious action from the DEP.

South Fork’s more than 2,000 students have been drinking water from coolers or vending machines since October, when a broken water filter allowed sand into the system.

These days, the campus is dotted with 27 water coolers, Principal Daniel Noel said. But students interviewed last week complained that the coolers sometimes ran out, or that the water was hot from sitting outside.

“By the end of the day the water’s all gone,” said Kim Buchanan, a senior. “It’s warm. They don’t refill it.”

Whatever their difficulties, Noel said the school will remain on bottled water until “I feel personally we’re clear.” Students complain openly and joke with him about the water problems, but Noel said the student body has adapted well.

Not that most students aren’t used to it. The school has been forced to switch to bottled water at least three times in the past year and a half. School officials say South Fork’s well water is safe to drink, but because it’s not being filtered it is discolored, has an odor and tastes bad.

District officials hope to have a new water filter in place by the end of this week. Salzler said “if everything went perfect, we could probably turn the water on on Thursday the 17th.”

LONG-STANDING SOLUTION SOUGHT

But district officials and school board members acknowledge a new filter is just a short-term remedy.

“If your child came to you and asked for a drink of water, would you hand them a glass and send them out to your swimming pool?” school board member Scott Chalmers asked. “This long-standing problem needs a long-standing solution.”

Board members and education officials have debated the possibility of connecting the school to the county’s water and sewer lines for years.

Martin County Utilities Director John Polley, however, said his department does “not have any definitive cost estimates.”

County Commissioner Lee Weberman said no one at the school district has asked for the county’s help, but that if they did “we’ll step up to the plate and try to assist them.”

Complicating matters for the county is that South Fork lies beyond the county’s boundary for water and sewer services.

Still, Weberman said these restrictions should not stand in the way of providing such services if “it’s a legitimate health, safety and welfare issue.”

Even with a new water source, other problems would remain. The school’s bathrooms, water fountains, sinks and faucets are connected to the water plant by a network of old copper pipes welded together by solder that likely contains lead.

South Fork was completed in 1982, four years before Congress lowered the amount of lead allowed in pipes and solder.

Salzler said chlorine used to treat the water has caused the copper pipes to decay for years.

Two pipes broke in the school cafeteria a few days after Christmas, dumping 2 inches of water in the plant operator’s office and flooding part of the kitchen, Salzler said.

“It’s deteriorating,” he said. “We know that. We’ll eventually have to replace it.”

But the price is still up in the air. Salzler said he is waiting for cost estimates of replacing the school’s old pipes, and Superintendent Sara Wilcox said she met last week with an engineering firm to explore the possibility of connecting to county water and sewer lines.

“I would very much like to see that,” she said. “I think it would eliminate a lot of the problems the school district has had.”

Copyright 2002 Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
January 13, 2002 Sunday
MARTIN-ST. LUCIE EDITION
SECTION: A SECTION, Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 1320 words