By Michael D. Clark
Enquirer staff writer

MASON - For the third time in less than a year, a Greater Cincinnati school has discovered lead on its campus.

Mason school officials announced Tuesday that theirs is the latest school district to discover lead debris from an abandoned shooting range.

The Warren County district is planning to build an elementary school on 47 acres in the 5800 block of Mason Road that it purchased in 1999 for $1.6 million. But this year, a longtime Mason resident told school officials about a private shooting range operated in the 1950s

School officials ordered testing of the soil and found that among 141 samples extracted, 12 from a 4-acre area showed lead contamination levels that could be potentially dangerous.

"We're taking this very seriously and understand the importance of this matter to our community," said Mason Superintendent Kevin Bright. He said the district is negotiating an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for further testing and removal.

School officials said it was not normal procedure to conduct soil tests for lead contamination when they purchased the land in 1999.

EPA officials were unavailable for comment but school officials said they anticipate a formal agreement with the EPA will be completed by the end of this month, and that later the legally responsible parties for paying for the yet-to-be-determined cost of the cleanup will be determined.

School officials said they don't anticipate the discovery of lead will substantially slow school construction that was to begin next spring, leading to a school opening in fall 2006.

Mason is one of the fastest-growing districts in Greater Cincinnati, and the new school is considered an essential component in handling the booming enrollment.

In August 2003, Kings schools, adjacent to Mason in southeastern Warren County, discovered extensive lead contamination. The subsequent $2 million cleanup - paid for by federal money - forced the demolition of Kings' football stadium and baseball fields.

The lead at the site was also from a private shooting range operated for decades nearby, and 24,000 tons of contaminated soil had to be removed from 12 acres of school grounds.

Earlier this year, Cincinnati Country Day School, a private Indian Hill school in northern Hamilton County, discovered lead debris on parts of its school campus stemming from a shooting range on the adjacent Camargo Club property.

Health officials have said that lead shot from skeet or trap shooting is primarily dangerous only if ingested regularly by small children, or airborne dust laced with high concentrations of lead particles is inhaled for long durations. Neither Kings nor Cincinnati Country Day officials have received any reports of former or current students who suffer from lead-related illnesses.

Two subdivisions adjacent to Mason's 47-acre site - Hickory Woods and Parkside - also have been tested for lead, but no contamination was found, school officials said.

To help answer questions, school officials plan to hold a public meeting next month, with representatives from the EPA and Ohio Department of Health, while posting updates beginning today on www.masonohioschools.com.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com