OAKHILL WATER UPDATE | Mahoning County to install lead filters in Oakhill break room

YOUNGSTOWN — After elevated lead levels were found in water from four fixtures at Oakhill Renaissance Place, the county will install a lead filter in a city health department employee break room today, said Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler.

Three of the fixtures that dispensed water with elevated lead levels were at the city health department, which is a second-floor tenant in the county-owned Oakhill, and the fourth was in fourth floor space occupied by the county’s Department of Job and Family Services.

Because young children are most at risk from lead poisoning, water taps will also be tested for lead in the satellite building that houses the Head Start program for preschool children, said Patricia Sweeney, county health commissioner.

None of the water taps in Oakhill’s basement cafeteria, which is operated by the Purple Cat, an organization serving disabled adults, had elevated lead levels, nor did any Oakhill drinking fountains, said county Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti.

The county officials spoke at a news conference in the commissioners office after an emergency special commissioners’ staff meeting on the lead issue at Oakhill.

Almost the entire half-hour meeting was in executive session with assistant county prosecutors providing the commissioners and their staff with legal advice.