Some faucets at four University of Oregon residence halls have tested positive for lead. The dorms were all built around the same time,.
Hamilton, Walton, Barnhart and Bean Halls were constructed in the 1950s. Michael Griffel is Director of University Housing. He says students will be provided with bottled water until affected fixtures are repaired or replaced.
“So far, in some of the sinks it’s been in the aerator, which is just at the very end of the faucet and so some of those repairs have been pretty simple.”
Students are moving in this week and next. Griffel says about 2,500 live in the affected dorms. He says it would have been nice to have the testing and repairs complete before fall term.
“Students are arriving now and it won’t all be completed. We’re just moving as quickly as we can. Our folks in environmental health and safety are extraordinarily conscientious.”
Griffel says they’ll retest the water at the four dorms after repairs are done. Classes start at the U of O on September 26th.