MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – About 150 schools and day care centers must test their water supplies for signs of radioactive contamination.

The state imposed the new testing requirements after the well water for the Middletown Springs Elementary School showed elevated levels of uranium. The radioactive material occurs naturally in some rock formations in Vermont.

The tests showed levels of 64 parts per billion of radioactive uranium – about three times the state standard of 20 parts per billion.

Officials then asked about 150 schools and day care centers around the state to test their well water for uranium and radium.

“We want to rule it out at least, high levels in other schools,” said Ellen Parr Doering, chief of the compliance section of the state’s water supply division. “We think the public needs to aware of this.”

Prolonged exposure to radioactive water could cause an elevated risk of cancer or kidney disease. The Middletown Springs school has switched to bottled water.

Municipal water supplies, which serve most public schools, are already required to test water. But Parr Doering said schools and day care centers have not been required to until now.

When radioactive material shows up in a nearby well, it doesn’t mean the groundwater in the whole area is contaminated. “What we’ve found with radionuclides is that they can vary greatly and even though we have a high hit somewhere very close by, there might be no problem at all,” Parr Doering said.

The schools must send samples to certified labs by June 1. The results on the uranium levels should be available within eight weeks. The radium tests should be ready in three to six months.

AP-ES-04-30-04 1813EDT