School News

Schools are getting the lead out

Traces found at an East Rockaway building; Lynbrook begins first rounds of testing

Posted

Traces of lead were found in the water flowing into a sink at the Rhame Avenue Elementary School in East Rockaway after a round of proactive water testing earlier this month.

The decision to test the water was motivated by local and national concerns about lead in school drinking water, and a bill on its way to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk would require schools to be more vigilant in conducting the tests.

“[The bill] passed both houses, and the governor is expected to sign it,” Christopher Goeken, director of public policy and government relations for the New York League of Conservation Voters, said in a written statement.
The bill would require the state to fund a portion of the cost of water testing in schools, and in emergency situations it would expedite the remuneration process. The testing would not apply to private schools, charter schools or day care centers.

“Initial test results districtwide indicated all drinking and potable water sources accessible to students, faculty and visitors meet the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s water quality safety standards,” said East Rockaway Schools Superintendent Lisa Ruiz. The EPA mandates that lead content in school drinking water not exceed 20 parts per billion.

Ruiz added, “However, after initial testing, there was one sink located in the Rhame Elementary kitchen found to have levels slightly higher than the EPA standards.” She explained that this prompted the school district to order testing of non-potable water sources, which is not required by the EPA, as a precaution, and that led to the discovery of above-normal lead in one of the high school’s science labs.

The school district immediately replaced the affected faucets, Ruiz said. “As always, the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority,” she said, “and we remain committed to maintaining the highest environmental quality in our schools.” 

Lynbrook orders water testing

The Lynbrook School District has just begun its first round of water testing. Superintendent Melissa Burak said that health and safety was a priority for the administration, which is why the tests were ordered. She stressed that she hoped the proposed state legislation would ensure that schools are fully reimbursed for the costs of any required future testing. “Placing another mandate on schools without backing it up with funding is only doing half the job,” Burak said.

Schools in New York state are not currently required to test their drinking water for lead.
The problem, advocates of the bill say, is not the public water supply — since all public water suppliers are subject to regular water quality testing — but the pipes and fixtures in the school buildings themselves. “Lead contamination occurs when water sits in the pipes [for] six hours or more,” Goeken said, and lead seeps into the water.

The problems arise in buildings constructed prior to 1978, when lead pipes and lead-based paints were used in homes. Dr. Marc Lashley, of Valley Stream Pediatrics, recommends that anyone living or working in a building built before 1978 let the water run 30 seconds before drinking it. “It’s just a good practice for everyone to do,” Lashley said.