by Kaiser Health News, Childrens Health Defense:
A new report by Environment America Research & Policy Center showed most states fall short in providing oversight for lead in schools — and the testing that has happened to this point shows widespread contamination from rural towns to major cities.
On a recent day in this 19th-century mining town turned tourist hot spot, students made their way into the Granite High School lobby and past a new filtered water bottle fill station.
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Water samples taken from the drinking fountain the station replaced had a lead concentration of 10 parts per billion — twice Montana’s legal limit for schools of 5 parts per billion for the toxic metal.
Thomas Gates, the principal and superintendent of the small Philipsburg School District, worries the new faucets, sinks and filters the district installed for roughly 30 water sources are temporary fixes.
The high school, built in 1912, is likely laced with aged pipes and other infrastructure, like so much of this historic town.
“If we change faucets or whatever, lead is still getting pushed in,” Gates said.
The school in Philipsburg is one of hundreds in Montana grappling with how to remove lead from their water after state officials mandated schools test for it.
So far, 74% of schools that submitted samples found at least one faucet or drinking fountain with high lead levels. Many of those schools are still trying to trace the source of the problem and find the money for long-term fixes.
In his Feb. 7 State of the Union address, President Joe Biden said the infrastructure bill he championed in 2021 will help fund the replacement of lead pipes that serve “400,000 schools and child care centers, so every child in America can drink clean water.”
However, as of mid-February, states were still waiting to hear how much infrastructure money they’ll receive, and when.
And schools are trying to figure out how to respond to toxic levels of lead now. The federal government hasn’t required schools and childcare centers to test for lead, though it has awarded grants to states for voluntary testing.
During the past decade, nationwide unease has been stirred by news of unsafe drinking water in places like Flint, Michigan.
Politicians have promised to increase checks in schools where kids — who are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning — drink water daily.
Lead poisoning slows children’s development, causing learning, speech and behavioral challenges. The metal can cause organ and nervous system damage.
A new report by advocacy group Environment America Research & Policy Center showed that most states fall short in providing oversight for lead in schools.
And the testing that has happened to this point shows widespread contamination from rural towns to major cities.
At least 19 states require schools to test for lead in drinking water. A 2022 law in Colorado requires childcare providers and schools that serve any kids from preschool through fifth grade to test their drinking water by May 31 and, if needed, make repairs.
Meanwhile, California leaders, who mandated lead testing in schools in 2017, are considering requiring districts to install filters on water sources with high levels of lead.
As states boost scrutiny, schools are left with complicated and expensive fixes.
As it passed the infrastructure bill, Congress set aside $15 billion to replace lead pipes, and $200 million for lead testing and remediation in schools.
White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan didn’t provide the source of the 400,000 figure Biden cited as the number of schools and child care centers slated for pipe replacement. Several clean-water advocacy organizations didn’t know where the number came from, either.
Part of the issue is that no one knows how many lead pipes are funneling drinking water into schools.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates between 6 million and 10 million lead service lines are in use nationwide.
Those are the small pipes that connect water mains to plumbing systems in buildings. Other organizations say there could be as many as 13 million.
But the problem goes beyond those pipes, said John Rumpler, senior director for the Clean Water for America Campaign at Environment America.
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