A federal watchdog revealed a startling number on Tuesday that showed 41 percent of U.S. school districts, about 12 million students, do not routinely test for lead in drinking water. And of those districts that did test, a large number found that students were exposed to elevated levels of lead.
The Government Accountability Office released the results as part of a countrywide survey of school districts it conducted last year to examine how many test for lead in drinking water.
The key findings showed that 41 percent of the districts, representing 12 million students, had not tested for lead for at least 12 months before completing the federal agency’s survey.
Of the 43 percent of districts that did test for lead, about 37 percent of those found “elevated levels” of lead and took steps to reduce or eliminate exposure.
Sixteen percent of the districts did not know if they had tested, according to the watchdog.
Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment panel, had requested the study, referring to its findings as “disturbing.”
Tonko put out a statement urging “parents to contact their local schools to make sure their water is being tested for lead.”
He said it is shocking that three years after the lead water crisis in Flint, Mich., that captured national headlines, lead in the water supply is not being addressed.
“This devastating report makes clear that even now, millions of America’s children are still being exposed to dangerous amounts of lead at school,” Tonko said.
He used the report to renew his effort to pass legislation that would improve water infrastructure and help schools reduce the risk of lead exposure.
“My colleagues in Congress need to treat these findings as an urgent call to vote immediately on bipartisan legislation I have long-supported to improve our nation’s drinking water infrastructure, including to help schools reduce the risk of lead exposure,” he said. “The pain and cost of failing to act on this will only grow deeper the longer we wait.”
Tonko was one of several Democrats that sent individual letters to GAO to conduct a survey of lead in schools’ drinking water supplies.
