Ahead of the release of a report on a state lead-testing program, environmental and public interest advocates are calling on education leaders to test for lead and PFAS in school drinking water.
Leaders of the Conservation Law Foundation, Rights & Democracy, Vermont Conservation Voters, the Vermont Natural Resources Council, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and the Vermont Chapter of Sierra Club sent a letter Monday to the heads of statewide education groups urging them to “proactively” assess whether any K-12 schools in Vermont have contaminated drinking water.
“Because this is one of Vermont’s vulnerable populations, we need to prioritize safe drinking water in schools,” Jen Duggan, director of Conservation Law Foundation Vermont, said in an interview Thursday.
Not all schools in Vermont are required to test for lead in drinking water. There are no requirements for schools — or public drinking water systems — to routinely look for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
Exposure to “even low levels” of lead can cause developmental and hearing impairment in children, while exposure to high levels can cause damage to red blood cells, the brain and kidneys, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning as they absorb the chemical more easily, Duggan said.
Following the discovery of PFAS contamination in Bennington’s drinking water, the Vermont Health Department issued a revised advisory of a combined 20 parts per trillion (or ppt) limit for five chemicals in the PFAS family. Exposure to PFAS in drinking water can cause damage to the brain, immune system and thyroid.
Schools that use public drinking water are not required to test for lead because municipalities already do so. Public drinking water systems are tested at water sources and in certain homes, but not at schools, said Lori Cragin, director of the Vermont Health Department’s environmental health division.
Only schools that rely on well water and have an enrollment of at least 25 students are required to test their water — the wells are regarded by the state as public water sources. However, the tests have not been comprehensive, involving samples taken only from a few taps and fountains. There are 150 schools with wells and at least 25 students, according to Cragin.
Although the EPA requires schools that test for lead to have levels below 15 parts per billion (or ppb), there is no “safe” level of lead in the body, said Cragin. Vermont’s health advisory for the metal is 1 ppb in drinking water, she said, but this limit is not enforceable under current state law.
Duggan said many schools in Vermont have older plumbing fixtures.
“Just because it may be safe at the source water or in another part of the system” does not mean drinking water is lead-free throughout a school, said Duggan. The Health Department advises schools to test any taps used for drinking or cooking, she noted.
Schools that test drinking water are required to notify parents and faculty if lead levels exceed 15 ppb, said Bryan Redmond, director of a division of the Agency of Natural Resources focused on drinking water and groundwater protection. Schools are also required to to implement measures, like replacing plumbing fixtures, that would lower lead levels to below the federal standard, he said.
The Health Department, ANR and the Agency of Education collaborated on a pilot project last winter to test for lead in drinking water at 16 schools around the state. Cragin said the aim of the program was to assess lead levels in Vermont schools’ water system — informing whether or not statewide testing should be recommended.
Initial results indicated that some of the schools had elevated lead levels in drinking water at certain taps. The Health Department has said that relatively inexpensive fixes — replacing taps and other plumbing fixtures — can lower lead levels.
Schools in the pilot program that had elevated lead levels have implemented measures to bring those down, said Cragin. A report on the full findings and recommendations of the pilot program will be released soon, according to Ben Truman, information officer for the Health Department.
Cragin noted that most of the state’s efforts to date have focused on reducing exposure to lead paint — the main source of lead poisoning for children. Vermont law requires 1- and 2-year-olds to be tested for lead levels. Last year, 480 children under the age of 6 had lead poisoning, according to Cragin. If children are found to have elevated lead levels, state health experts will investigate the source of lead exposure, she said.
The state agencies have also tested for PFAS contamination at 10 schools around the state. Grafton Elementary School’s water supply had PFAS levels higher than the state’s 20 ppt threshold. The DEC is considering what kind of filtration system to install at the school to lower those levels.
“Those are important steps,” Duggan said of the pilot testing programs. “But there are 250 schools in Vermont.”
CLF and the other advocacy groups would like to collaborate with state agencies and education groups to develop a plan for statewide school drinking water testing, she said. Duggan said those tests should be required in Vermont schools, as is the case in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
Jeffrey Francis, executive director of the Vermont Superintendents Association, said that immediately after receiving the letter, he reached out to the advocacy groups to set up a meeting to “get a clear idea on what they want us to do.”
He noted that his organization and the other statewide education groups do not have direct authority over schools. “Our interest would be in supporting initiatives that are going to work well with schools,” he said.
“As you might imagine, schools are extremely dynamic places,” said Francis. “There’s a lot going on, and when an entity — whether it’s an advocacy organization or a regulatory entity — (wants) to do something with schools, there are better ways to do that in order to make it work for everyone.”
He noted that the education groups have been involved in the state’s pilot programs for lead and PFAS testing. “I’m not a scientist, but there’s science behind this in terms of where and how to look for contaminants,” he said, noting that the state had done risk analyses to determine where to initially conduct school water testing.
Francis cautioned against a one size fits all mandate for lead and PFAS tests in schools. Recent school budgets have been very tight, he noted. Any new requirement for schools would need to come with a “careful analysis of what the costs are and who is going to cover the costs.”
