Canyon water remains contaminated despite recent repairs
KSD Superintendent Lance Pearson and Canyon School Principal Jenny Ferreira met with members of the Canyon School Organization on Monday night to discuss moving the schools annual Ham and Turkey Dinner to a new location. The school recently received news that the school's reservoir tank continues to show traces of E. Coli bacteria following last week's repairs and chlorination flush.
Photo by CHELSEA NEWBY
CATALDO — Canyon Elementary School is left with more questions than answers following yet another contaminated test result from its most recent water sample.
The school was closed to students from Friday, Nov. 5 until Thursday, Nov. 11 while repairs were made to the system’s reservoir tank, ensuing the discovery of E. Coli during a routine water sample in October.
While the school hoped these repairs would lay their water troubles to rest, the water sample taken after the repairs and 24-hour chlorination process continues to show presence of the bacteria.
Kellogg School District Superintendent Lance Pearson said that while the school is being guided by the Panhandle Health District and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), “Right now everyone is kind of scratching their head.”
Although the school does know with certainty that the issue lies within the reservoir tank, they now must decide if they have exhausted all options short of replacing the tank altogether — something Pearson said just isn’t practical right now.
“If it was expedient to do, we would do it already,” Pearson explained. “That’s going to take time, so we’re trying to get it solved without having to go through the long, laborious process of doing that.”
Canyon officials said the goal of keeping the kids in school will continue to be the first priority.
In an email to Canyon Elementary parents, principal Jenny Ferreira wrote, “As we move forward with possible scenarios, the primary goal will be to keep students in school during future repairs. We are currently seeking input from our engineer on possible fixes with regards to the tank. We are also currently seeking input from DEQ and Panhandle Health on next steps. Fortunately, we have Thanksgiving week coming up, and Christmas Break just around the corner as possible opportunities for repairs."
For now, Canyon will continue to use bottled and boiled water, as well as its new hand washing station, until the problem is resolved.
With these limited resources, school officials made the decision Monday morning to relocate their upcoming Ham and Turkey Dinner event, which will be held this Saturday, Nov. 20. The event will now be held at Real Life Silver Valley in Pinehurst. All other details remain the same.
Tickets for the Canyon Elementary School Ham and Turkey Dinner will be sold at the door and are $7 each (ages 4 and under eat free). Dinner will be served from 4-6 p.m.