
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 1, 1990                   TAG: 9006010094
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

LEAD-LINED TANKS TO BE REPLACED

Schools and other owners of old water coolers that put too much lead into drinking water can receive free replacements under a final agreement announced on Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Under terms of the consent agreement, the Halsey Taylor Division of Scotsman Group Inc. will mail notices of the replacement offer to public and private school officials; universities and colleges; day care centers with enrollments of 10 or more; and headquarters for the YMCA, the YWCA and boys and girls clubs.

It also will run advertisements in trade journals aimed at public building managers.

The offer to provide either a replacement cooler or a cash refund - at the option of the cooler owner - applies to any Halsey Taylor model made prior to 1979 that tests show emits excessive amounts of lead. Those models emit more than 20 parts per billion into the water passing through it.

Halsey Taylor models made since 1979 do not have internal water storage tanks and are not under suspicion.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission maintains that a lead-dip used on the exterior of some pre-1979 models to help attach cooling coils to the tank resulted in lead migrating to the inside of the tank and into the stored water.

The Vernon Hills, Ill., company denied that any of its products constituted a health risk, but said in a statement signed on April 2 by Scotsman Group President Richard C. Osborne that it was agreeing to the replacement program "for the purpose of resolving this matter without resorting to protracted administrative and judicial proceedings."

At a news conference to publicize the replacement program, commission officials said they could not estimate how many of the thousands of pre-1979 Halsey Taylor water coolers might dispense water with unacceptably high lead levels, and that the only way to be sure is to test each cooler.

One complication is that such lead levels could be in the water before it reached the cooler.

Michael Cooke, head of the Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water office, said thousands of EPA tests at schools have disclosed unacceptably high lead levels at 10 percent to 20 percent of "outlets" tested. However, outlets are not limited to water coolers. They also include bathroom and kitchen sinks and uncooled water fountains.

The company has established a toll-free number to provide further information - 1-800-635-2358 - and has designated a special mailing address: Halsey Taylor Water Cooler Program, 775 Corporate Woods Parkway, Vernon Hills, Ill., 60061.

by CNB