Fort River PGO Information
The people of Puerto Rico continue to suffer from lack of basic needs following devastation from two hurricanes in late 2017.
One of the ARHS staff members, Mari Vicente, has been working with Waves for Water, a non-profit that works throughout the world bringing water purifying filters to disaster-ridden places. W4W has been in Puerto Rico since the last hurricane swept through it on September 20th, 2017. Here's the link to Ms. Vicente's fundraising page: http://www.wavesforwater.org/courier/9527. Please help W4W and her reach their goal of providing water filters to 100 Puerto Rican families in need. Any amount helps. !Muchas gracias!
from ARPS Central Office:
January 20, 2017
Dear Fort River Community:
As we notified you in October and December, retesting at Fort River had not resolved many of
the issues related to the water. Since that time, district maintenance staff members have
completed the additional repairs of replacing the shut-off valve with a certified, lead free
replacement part. The challenge of this repair process was that water had to be shut off in the
school in order to do the work based on the antiquated systems in the building. Given the
disruption this would cause to students and staff, the repairs were completed on the weekends
and the December holidays.
We have retested these water outlets since the additional repair, and I am pleased to report that
71 of the 78 outlets tested below the action level on first draw, and all 78 of the outlets were
below the level after the flush test. Fort River is now down to 7 water outlets that need
additional work in the entire building: two in Room CR-1, one in the Health Room, one in the
Vault/break room, and one each in rooms Room H-2, Room E-1, and Room K-2. The retesting results can be found here.
We will continue using our flushing protocol for these outlets until
additional repairs are made by our district maintenance staff. When additional repairs are
completed on the remaining water outlets in the school and we receive retesting data, we will
share information with the community.
Thank you for your patience as our maintenance staff works through the remaining repairs.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Morris
Interim Superintendent
A comprehensive update on the
district-wide water testing and repairs was presented to the Regional School
Committee on November 29, 2016. Video of the meeting will be posted
on the Amherst Media website, and the
Powerpoint presentation is available here.
The following letter was sent to families on Friday.
****************************
September 16, 2016
Dear Fort River Families:
This is a follow-up email to the one sent to you yesterday, Thursday, September 15, 2016.
The initial results shared yesterday were based on the preliminary data received from the lead and copper testing completed on September 2, 2016. More complete results came back today, and this communication is based on the full data collected.
In total, 64 sinks and water fountains at Fort River tested for lead at levels above the state and federally defined relevant action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) on “first draw” samples. Importantly, none of the “flush samples” (testing completed after running the water for 30 seconds) of any sinks or fountains tested at or above the action level for lead, with the exception of one water fountain outside the gym. None of the samples tested above the action level for copper on either initial or flush samples. All of the data from the tests can be found here.
Lead is not believed to be in the primary water source at Fort River given the fact that the positive tests were from first morning samples, and all but one of the flush samples were low. This indicates good piping and good source water.
As we work to resolve the issues in the fixtures of the water outlets, we will continue our flushing routines as per Department of Environmental Protection guidelines for each of the 63 sinks and fountains identified through the testing to ensure that all water at Fort River is safe for students. The water fountain outside the gym will be deactivated until it is fixed. Given the results from the testing, we know that water at Fort River is safe to drink after the flushing routine has been completed each morning.
We will hold an informational meeting about the results on Monday, September 19, at the Fort River Library from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Morris, Acting Superintendent, morrism@arps.org, 413.362.1823
16 de septiembre del 2016
Estimadas Familias de Fort River:
Este es un correo electrónico de seguimiento al que se le envió ayer, jueves, 15 de septiembre de 2016. Los resultados iniciales compartidos ayer se basaron en los datos preliminares recibidos de los examinadores del estado de las pruebas de plomo y cobre completado el 2 de septiembre 2016. Resultados más completos regresaron hoy, y esta comunicación se basa en los datos recopilados completos.
En total 64 sumideros y fuentes de agua en Fort River probaron tener plomo en niveles superiores al nivel estatal y federal correspondiente acción definida de 15 partes por billón (ppb) en muestras de "primer sorteo". Es importante destacar que ninguna de las muestras de "enjuague" (las pruebas realizadas después de correr el agua durante 30 segundos) de los sumideros o fuentes probaron en o por encima del nivel de acción de plomo, con la excepción de la fuente de agua fuera del gimnasio. Ninguna de las muestras probó estar por encima del nivel de acción para el cobre en cualquiera de las muestras iniciales o de enjuague. Todos los datos de las pruebas se pueden encontrar aquí.
El plomo no se cree que está en la fuente de agua primaria en Fort River dado el hecho de que las pruebas positivas pertenecían a las primeras muestras de la mañana y todas, menos una, de las muestras de enjuague fueron bajas. Esto indica una buena tuberías y una buena fuente de agua.
A medida que trabajamos para resolver los problemas en las instalaciones de las salidas de agua, continuaremos nuestras rutinas de lavado para cada uno de los 63 sumideros y fuentes de agua identificadas a través de la pruebas para asegurar que toda el agua de Fort River sea seguro para los estudiantes. La fuente de agua fuera del gimnasio se desactivará hasta que se arregle. De acuerdo a los resultados de las pruebas, sabemos que el agua en Fort River está bien para toma luego de la rutina de drenaje de la mañana.
Vamos a tener una reunión de información sobre los resultados el lunes, 19 de septiembre, en la biblioteca de Fort River River de 6:00 a 7:30 pm.
Sinceramente,
Dr. Michael Morris, Acting Superintendent, morrism@arps.org, 413.362.1823
Julie Federman, Director of Health & Community Services, federmanj@amherstma.gov, 413.259.3077
