Fence to go up at school with high lead in soil

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This article was published 12/04/2019 (2121 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The snow may be melting, but students at Weston School won’t be allowed to play on their grass field.

The Winnipeg School Division said Friday that because of high levels of lead in the soil, it will erect fencing around the field, which was taken down in November when the ground froze.

The division said it is “taking a position of abundant caution” by putting up the fencing next week.

WSD spokeswoman Radean Carter said “although levels are above the recommended levels, and you can only get lead poisoning if you ingest (it), we don’t want to take a chance with students as young as Kindergarten there.”

Carter said students will go to nearby parks that have tested below lead guidelines. She said the students can also play on the hardtop areas outside the school during recess.

The division said the fencing was taken down in November because Manitoba Public Health said “the risk of exposure to lead in soil was very small” due to the snow cover and frozen ground.

The province has soil reports dating back to 1976, and continuing to 2011, that show elevated lead levels in soil around the Weston area.

Last year, the provincial government commissioned testing that found lead concentrations higher than 140 parts per million, the accepted guideline set by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

When the report was tabled in the legislature last month, it recommended further analysis of lead levels to determine if there are risks to human health.

The province later confirmed no money is earmarked in this year’s budget for soil remediation in Weston.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca