Indisputable facts about Saranac Lake’s drinking water

There are certain indisputable facts about Saranac Lake’s drinking water, its distribution system, and the village government’s management thereof. It is fact that the water contains lead and salt. It’s fact that the piping system contains lead. It’s fact that our elected officials will not make the test results for lead and salt available to village residents.

Lead isn’t just in a few old homes or apartments. There’s lead under the streets in the form of lead goosenecks and lead-gasketed cast iron. On my street (and others), there are two operating water mains. One is newer, has no lead, and supplies water to a few homes. The other is ancient and still supplies water to many homes via lead goosenecks. This is a fact, plain and simple. Why this is the case remains unaddressed by village officials. Mayor Rabideau states that the village pays for home water line replacement under the streets. That is false. Tell that to the many people, including myself, who have paid for water line replacement under the road.

The village replaces water laterals for some residents (in limited cases) but not others. I paid the village for a road opening permit, and then the excavation contractor, and bought pipe and backfill. That was to replace the lead gooseneck still connected to my house. Friends of mine did the exact same thing last July, with no help at all from the village. They had to purchase a road opening permit and pay for the entire job.At the same time, some residents on Lake Street last summer received free new laterals.

One source of salt in our water is soda ash which the village adds to reduce corrosivity because of all the lead. Soda ash is sodium carbonate. When used in water systems, it leaves salt in the water. That’s the single actual fact in Rabideau’s letter. He goes on to describe a natural, groundwater source for salt in our water. However, there is no naturally occurring salt in our area – another fact.

Instead of entering into rational discussion regarding these issues, our government officials resort to spin. Trustee Shapiro describes my concerns as “spurious accusations,” on Facebook, not exactly a source of sensible discourse, and he addresses absolutely nothing. Mayor Rabideau calls my article “a rant containing substantial factual errors.” He does so with little regard to any facts whatsoever. Neither of them speak to the numerous village water samples tested in the past ten years which have exceeded the .015 mg/liter EPA limit for lead, and, those many other samples which tested positive for lead but below the maximum. Rabideau claims the results are well under any “action level,” but 2020 had at least one test exceeding the EPA “action level” for lead, and 2018 had at least two tests exceeding the “action level.” No violations requiring remediation were issued because the high level tests were apparently evaluated as a small percentage of the overall samples. The complete numbers aren’t available for public scrutiny. A Department of Health violation is serious business. It says that the water is unsafe to drink and requires that a particular section of pipe be immediately replaced. Shapiro and Rabideau do not mention the DOH violations for lead contamination which the village received in 2014 and 2016. Touting the fact that the village has not received a DOH violation lately is a very low bar for water quality.

Neither of these astute politicians address last year’s testing at Petrova School, which included 70 samples:  https://www.slcs.org/departments/district-office/lead-testing-information

Twelve samples tested below the reporting limit (and so, are deemed clean, despite some lead content). Fifty-eight samples were positive for lead and ten were above the maximum allowed. Several were substantially above the limit. As a result, SLCSD removed and replaced fixtures and sinks. That remediation will certainly help, but there will still be lead in the water. The next samples tested will tell the story. Lead is a neurotoxin. How much do you want our children to drink?

In 2020, I asked the board to provide us actual test results of the salt contamination, not just the average which is 53 mg/liter. At 60 mg, you taste it. Some people say they taste salt in our water. Trustee Shapiro’s only comment was that you get the same amount of salt from a bag of chips. Again, I requested transparency in government, nothing more. Provide us the test data. No one on the village board, nor the mayor, is willing to provide that data. Contrast that with SLCSD Superintendent Diane Fox. She put all the samples on the website. You can see when and where the tests were performed and the results. Lead tests over the maximum are printed in bold. Kudos to Superintendent Fox.

The village performs bare minimum water testing. Salt testing is required every three years for aquifer sourced water. We went on the aquifer in 2012. The first salt test was 2019. Another interesting detail is the village doesn’t post the highest lead levels detected, only the second highest. Given the consistent presence of lead and salt, a more rigorous testing regimen is needed. With a neurotoxin in our drinking water, transparency in testing is a simple and sensible request. Trustee Shapiro, please put down that bag of chips. Trustee Little, please take a moment from your dog park plans to learn about our drinking water. At the very least, provide us complete testing data. Legislator Ellis, instead of posting on Facebook the mayor’s response, why not post my article to which he responded? Scared of the truth? Ms. Ellis likes to engage in bullying, as in her recent treatment of Shaun Kittle in vindictiveness against Jeremy Evans who ran against her pick, Melinda Little. Shaun, who is married and has a young child, took a new job in good faith only to have Ellis strip the funding for that job. Finally, note that the mayor accused the Adirondack Daily Enterprise of poor fact-checking of my article. The mayor is completely wrong. The Enterprise requested all source material which I duly supplied in the form of detailed footnotes.

I love living in our village, and I want to continue doing so without lead and salt in the drinking water. I want transparency in government, not spin.