BACK OF THE YARDS — If you take your kids to play at Packingtown Park, make sure you bring clean drinking water.
The Chicago Park District disabled the water fountain there after it tested positive for elevated levels of lead: 311 parts per billions of lead — 20 times more than federal officials consider safe.
The Environmental Protection Agency considers hazardous water with more than 15 parts per billion of lead.
"Any time I see this, it makes me sick," said Edwin Garcia, director of the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council. "The answer is obviously fixing it."
The park at 4756 S. Laflin St. is one of 200 Chicago parks that tested positive for elevated levels of lead, the Chicago Park District announced.
Results of tests conducted on 2,435 indoor and outdoor drinking water sources found approximately 43 percent of Chicago's parks had elevated levels of lead in water from at least one sink or drinking fountain, according to the results.
But only 3 percent of the district's indoor sinks and drinking water fountains tested positive for elevated levels, park district spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said.
About 24 percent of the district's outdoor drinking water fountains tested positive for elevated levels of lead, according to park district spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner.
All of the fixtures that tested positive for high levels of lead have been shut down, officials said.
"When the results were learned, the park district moved swiftly to address the issues and prevent any future exposure to our residents," said Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th).
At Packingtown Park, there's a metal cap restricting water flow to the park's only drinking fountain. The fire hydrant just outside the park's entrance has been shut off.
Fountains will undergo further testing, and will be removed, repaired or replaced, as necessary, according to Maxey-Faulkner.
Celia Hernandez has lived less than a block from the park for the past decade. The lead levels were news to her.
The park district has not notified neighborhood residents about their findings. The city has not had the opportunity to do so on a large scale, according to Ald. Lopez.
"[We] will be working with the park district to notify patrons as to what happened and why," Lopez said.
Hernandez, a 32-year-old mother with a 1-year-old daughter, said she isn't too concerned about the water. She wouldn't let her kids drink from the fountain anyway.
"It's only the water," she said. "The park is OK."
Among the highest test results were at Avalon Park, 1215 E. 83rd St., where water with 1,800 parts per billion of lead was found in an outdoor drinking water fountain. Another fountain in the South Side park had 1,200 parts per billion, according to the test results.
At Grant Park Downtown, a fountain had water with 1,200 parts per billion.
Approximately 40,000 Chicago kids attended day camp this summer at city parks, with thousands more attending other programs during the school year.
The government is especially concerned with children drinking lead-tainted water, as they're more susceptible to its effects. Amounts of lead that won't hurt adults can hinder mental and physical development in children, according to the EPA.
Water at 17 Catholic schools in Chicago tested positive for elevated levels of lead, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools have tested all of their facilities.
Water tests by Chicago Public Schools officials found at least 113 public schools had dangerously high levels of lead.
Ald. Lopez said the lead problem is one that will be fixed:
"Considering the number of parks and the age of parks we have, I am confident we will be able to keep out children and their families safe."
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