Mount Hebron High Sewage Leak Renews Safety Concerns

Mount Hebron freshman Amy Queen was taking her midterm science exam last Friday when she noticed brown water shooting out of the laboratory sink at her Howard County high school.

The smell was bad, definitely a distraction, Amy said, but she and her classmates kept taking the test. Then the water flowed out into the hallway.

Sewage leaking into the classrooms forced school officials to move students taking midterm exams and prompted a cleanup and worries about health and safety at the aging Ellicott City school.

The school's plumbing problems began last Thursday, and, despite attempted repairs, escalated Friday, when the septic system backed up and wastewater seeped into two second-floor science classrooms through floor tiles and sinks. Two other classrooms and a restroom on the first floor were also affected.

In a letter to the Howard County Board of Education this week, teachers said the incident was the latest in a series of problems at the school, built more than 40 years ago as a junior high. Last fall, a broken pipe sent wastewater spilling over a ramp in the ninth-grade wing, they said.

"We believe this situation to be appalling," the teachers wrote. "In the past five to seven years, there have been instances of raw sewage spurting out of the sink in the media center and the water fountains in the social studies hallway."

Principal Dave Brown, who took over the school last fall, said that he was unfamiliar with the earlier incidents but that school and health officials had moved quickly to deal with the recent leak. After Friday's flooding, cabinetry was moved, floors were cleaned, soiled ceiling tiles were replaced and all affected areas were washed and sanitized.

"The rooms have been cleaned and disinfected," Brown said.

On Monday, when schools were closed for a professional day, Howard County Health Department representatives visited the school to check on the cleanup and found the work satisfactory. "They did what I think was required," said Bert Nixon, the department's deputy director of environmental health.

Students returned to the two downstairs classrooms Tuesday, one of the science labs yesterday and were scheduled to return to the other lab today, officials said.

Board member Diane Mikulis said she was confident the school is safe. "If it was not safe, the kids would not be there," she said.

Some parents remain concerned. Mount Hebron PTSA Vice President Cindy Ardinger said she made her two daughters who attend the school "promise not to drink out of the water fountain."

"No school should have this occurring," Ardinger said.

Like other fast-growing counties, Howard is struggling not only to keep up with new construction needs but also to renovate older schools. Several new elementary schools are being planned. Marriotts Ridge, the county's state-of-the-art 12th high school, opened in 2005, just a few miles from Mount Hebron, where much of the county's growth has been concentrated. The area around Mount Hebron High, in the northwest part of Howard, serves an affluent population and is known for its high test scores.

Various plans to renovate or replace Mount Hebron High have been under discussion for months, and the school board will consider five at a meeting at 4 p.m. today. A vote on a final plan is scheduled for March 22.