Parents of East Helena schoolchildren will again have the opportunity to have their children tested for high lead levels in East Helena Schools now that the program has been welcomed back to the schools after almost a year.

The program was ousted from the schools early last spring by then superintendent, Tom Lockyer, who cited parents' complaints and said the lead screening program gave the perception that the district was aligned politically with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

But further investigation this fall by acting Superintendent Ron Whitmoyer indicated that the program was successful, and, for most parents, a non-threatening, community health issue.

"The kids were the ones who ended up on the short end of that one," Whitmoyer said of his predecessor's decision.

High lead levels in soils in and around East Helena have been a problem for decades - the result of more than 100 years of lead smelting at Asarco, at the time the community's largest employer.

Asarco closed in April 2001, and many residents blame the shutdown on the EPA, which forced the smelter to spend millions of dollars to lessen the environmental impacts on the surrounding area. Part of that effort resulted in the advent of the East Helena Lead Education and Abatement Program.

Asarco and the EPA fund the program.

In years past, the lead education program has set up a day-long blood testing session in each of the schools once a year. Their efforts generally garnered some 150 to 200 children, according to the program's coordinator, Jan Williams.

"The parents were there so they'd bring in younger siblings to be screened too," Williams added.

In September, when the program held open screenings at their office, fewer than 20 children were screened for high lead levels.

"We felt that by not being in the schools we missed a lot of opportunity," Williams said.

It's been two years since the East Helena program office has detected high lead levels in any children, but Williams was quick to point out that other than through a blood screening, high lead levels can go undetected.

Extended lead exposure can cause hearing loss, and delayed learning, and slow growth in children. At high levels over a longer period of time, it can cause coma, convulsions and even death. Contaminated soils and lead-based paint are the two most common sources of lead exposure for children.

Whitmoyer pointed to ongoing efforts in the community to remove lead-laced soils as the reason high lead levels haven't been detected in recent years.

"Our soils have been reclaimed, and our lead levels are down," he said. "Things are on the upswing in East Helena and everything that's been done has been effective."

The renewed testing agreement was the result of the cooperative efforts between the East Helena Schools, Asarco, the East Helena Lead Education and Abatement Program, the City of East Helena, the Lewis and Clark County Health Department, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the EPA.

The lead education office not only includes screening of blood lead levels it also supports a prevention program that includes advice to schoolchildren on hand washing and other lead-awareness strategies.

Williams emphasized that lead toxins are one of the leading environmental concerns for children, and high lead levels can be detected in any location - the concern is not just for East Helena children.

For more information contact the East Helena Lead Education and Abatement Program Office by calling 227-8451.

Reporter Laura Tode can be reached at 447-4081 or by e-mail at laura.tode@helenair.com.