Roselawn residents still afraid of school water

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Roselawn residents still afraid of school water

April 14, 2002

By Sharlonda L. Waterhouse / Post-Tribune staff writer

ROSELAWN - Brent Prosie has stayed home from school since news broke that

unsafe levels of MtBE were found in his school's well water.

Doubly troubling for his family is knowing the kindergartner's classroom is

the one that was tainted with the toxic black mold known as stachybotrys,

and later cleaned.

His mother, Kellie Stuhlmacher, an emergency medical technician and home

health care worker, said she's too concerned about the mold and water to

allow 6-year-old Brent to return to school.

Two environmental health experts say Stuhlmacher's concerns, particularly

for the water, are justified.

Serap Erdal, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor who has studied

the effects of methyl tertiary-butyl ether as a gasoline additive for a

number of years, said there is no safe level for a chemical like MtBE, a

suspected carcinogen.

" If you are exposed to one molecule of a carcinogen, you can get cancer, "

Erdal said.

While there is no data on the effects of MtBEs on humans, Erdal said there

is evidence chronic inhalation and oral exposure have caused rare kidney and

liver tumors and lymphomas in mice and rats.

Rae Schnapp, water policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council,

said little research has been done on long-term effects for human MtBE

exposure.

" It is generally thought to have low acute toxicity. It won't poison you

right away. But chronic toxicity is still being studied. No one really knows

what can happen from (daily exposure over two years). "

Stuhlmacher also is concerned about the mold.

A test conducted in the fall indicated there is no more black mold at the

school. She doesn't trust the test results.

" They can't prove my child is safe. I don't believe the latest mold tests

are accurate because they were done in a different area than where the black

mold was originally found, " she said.

" In the past, my son has been dehydrated and vomiting. He has been on an IV

four times.

" I have no way of knowing if this was from water or mold. The doctor thought

it might have been a virus. But a lot of people at that school have been

sick. Who's to say there isn't some link? " she said.

Stuhlmacher also is worried her son might have been drinking water tainted

with MtBE, without knowing it.

Schnapp spent recent years lobbying for a state ground water rule that would

protect well water, and by extension residents who rely on it for drinking

and bathing, from chemicals.

However, the West Lafayette woman is furious the state this year established

a more lenient groundwater rule, one that she says protects industries, not

people.

" I wanted a rule that prevented companies from putting chemicals into (the

environment) beyond their own property. Instead the state adopted a rule

that allows low levels for regulated chemicals and no restrictions for

unregulated chemicals, like MtBE, " she said.

As investigators attempt to determine the extent of the MtBE contamination

in Roselawn, Bobor, 32, and her disabled mom Thallia Bobor, 56, are

worried. They live two blocks from the school and weren't notified of the

water contamination. Once they heard about it from neighbors who have

children at the school, they started buying bottled water.

School district attorney Dan McInerie said school officials were responsible

for safeguarding parents, staff and children, not notifying residents in the

community.

Bobor said her mom has spina bifida, and she doesn't want her exposed

to anything that could cause additional medical problems.

Bobor said she first noticed a gaseous smell and metallic taste to the

drinking water about two years ago and wonders if that was a hint of the

contamination.

While they bought filters, she's afraid filters won't protect their health

if MtBE is in fact flowing in the well water.

" We used to have the best waster in the region. Excellent. Now, it's

horrible, " she said.

Reach Reporter Sharlonda L. Waterhouse at 648-3107 or

swaterhouse@....