Lead in Drinking Water in Schools

1
Lead in Drinking Water in Schools

• A project of the Region 1 Water Technical Unit,
  Drinking Water Enforcement Team, Mass DEP/DPH and
  BPHC
• Presented to the National Partnership Summit,
  Atlanta Georgia
• Gina Snyder, EPA Region 1 and by
• Yvette DePeiza, MassDEP

2
EPA New England Project to prevent exposure of
school children to lead in DW

• Two-part Presentation, EPA and MassDEP
• EPA
• Review Boston Public School System (BPS)
• Sample BPS kitchens
• Survey Boston Private Schools (BPHC)
• Sample Boston Private Schools
• MassDEP Massachusetts Schools and Child Care
  program

3
Program Impetus

• Region 3 findings in Philadelphia Schools (1999)
• Region 2 findings in New York Schools (2002)
• Boston water system Lead Action Level (2002)
• No information on Boston Schools

4
The Concept

• Coordinate a strategy to
• evaluate lead in DW in schools in Boston with
• Massachusetts Departments
• Environmental Protection
• Public Health
• Boston Public Schools
• Boston Public Health Commission
• MWRA and BWSC

5
What we knew

• Mass DEP information campaigns and LCR results in
  schools
• Mass DEP/DPH data gathering under SDWA LCCA
• BPHC relations with schools
• Blood Lead levels for Boston children

6
Lead

• Lead Concentrations in Boston Schools, 1990

7
What we found

• BPS sampling data for many years
• 80 of 148 schools with data ranging from 1988
  to 1990
• 139 operating schools with data from 1990 to
  current
• Lead level set at Lead and Copper Rule level
• (15 ppb rather than EPA guidance level of 20 ppb)
• Any sample above action level DW disconnect
• Bottled water program

8
Data Gaps

• Bottled water program
• Audits in Dorchester
• Kitchens
• Some schools with kitchens
• in use, no sampling

9
Filling in Data Gaps
PR EPA and Boston School Department Announce
Results of School Drinking Water Project

• Sampling of Kitchens
• Region 1 OEME
• 28 schools
• 2 gt A/L after flushing
• School Department additional 10 schools
• A Flushing Program was begun in 2004

10
Private School Sampling Program with Boston
Public Health Commission

• BPHC Survey June
• EPA and BPHC review September-October
• Solicit participation November small
  Independent Private Schools
• OECA funded QAPP and sampling
• December sample
• January Results
• February Summary Meeting

11
Results

• 16 elementary schools
• Over 230 samples
• Nine schools gt A/L
• 17 locations

12
Outcomes - Continuing

• Flushing programs
• Bottled water policy
• Posting at faucets
• Publicity
• Awareness

13
Outcomes - Continuing

• LSLR
• MassDEP Child Cares program
• Continued Survey/
• outreach
• School Sampling

14
Pause for questions

• snyder.gina_at_epa.gov
• 617-918-1837

15
(No Transcript)
16
Massachusetts Department Of Environmental
Protection (MassDEP)

• Yvette DePeiza
• National Environmental Partnership Summit
• Atlanta Georgia May 8-11, 2006.

17
Reducing Lead in school and childcare drinking
water

• Childcare facilities project
• Schools outreach program
• Using the PWS program to facilitating assistance
  to schools and child care facilities
• MA lead action level is 0.015mg/l

18
Objectives- Childcare

• Free lead sampling and analysis to child care
  facilities.
• Develop curriculum to teach undergraduates.
• Provide guidance and mitigation strategies to
  childcare facilities that exceed the MA lead
  action level.

19
Partners

• MassDEP
• Worcester State College (WSC)
• New England Interstate Water Pollution Control
  Commission (NEIWPCC)
• EPA New England
• Project coordinated with
• MA Dept. of Early childhood Education

20
Project steps

• MassDEP trained WSC students
• WSC student team contact child care facilities.
• Mailed postcards about the project to 200 child
  care facilities

21
Project Steps contd

• 25 child care facilities agreed to participate in
  the project.
• WSC student did the following
• Developed all materials with MassDEP oversight.
• Collected samples.
• Discussed possible results and action plan if
  lead levels exceeded the MA lead action level. 
• Delivered samples to the lab.
• MassDEP and WSC students discussed results with
  each child care facility and encouraged future
  sampling.

22
Childcare Results

• Four (16 )  of the twenty-five child care
  facilities had at least one sample that exceeded
  the MA lead action level.
• Twenty-one (84 ) of the twenty-five child care
  facilities had no detected amounts or had levels
  below the MA lead action level.

23
Child care facilities exceeding the MA lead
action level
24
Project Outcomes

• Childcare facility owners and staff were educated
  about lead in drinking water.
•  
• WSC developed a program curriculum on lead in
  drinking water.
• The project can be adapted for any community. 

25
MassDEP working with schools

• Partners
• MassDEP
• Mass Department of Public Health
• Mass Department of Education
• EPA
• Local health Department e.g. Boston Health
  Commission

26
Objectives - working with schools

• Evaluate each school.
• Provide training to school officials.
• Require corrective action.
• Encourage local public water systems to work with
  their school districts and childcare facilities.

27
Steps

• Survey of 1030 public schools
• Provide training seminars and assistance
• Send notices to all schools with sampling results
  that are over the MA action level for lead and
  copper.

28
Results

• (53.2 ) of the public schools responded as of
  January 1, 2006.
• (60.9) schools reported that the taps they used
  for drinking or cooking purposes met the MA lead
  action level.
• (39.1) reported that they had identified and
  corrected problems or were correcting problems.

29
Results

• (36) of the schools submitted lab results.
• (17) schools submitting laboratory data reported
  at least one sampling point in the school that
  exceeded either the lead action level and/ or the
  copper action level.

30
What have we learned so far?

• Many schools/school districts have been testing
  their water through out the last 15 years.
• The survey prompted some schools to identify and
  correct problems prior to returning the survey.
• Schools want to address identified problems.
• No enforcement is necessary

31
Next steps

• Survey the rest of the schools.
• Provide a final report to Mass Department of
  Public Health, Mass Department of Education, and
  EPA.
• Encourage our partners to follow-up on all non-
  responders or questionable data.

32
Other tools used by MassDEP

• Include school drinking water lead sampling and
  remediation as Supplemental Environmental
  Projects (SEP) in enforcement cases.
• Issue Awards during Drinking Water Week to
  schools and public water systems or other
  partnerships working to abate lead in school
  drinking water.

33
Other tools used by MassDEP contd

• Facilitating PWS outreach to schools and child
  care facilities in the following programs.
• PWS Lead and copper sampling program.
• PWS sanitary surveys
• Use of Mass contract process to get low cost
  laboratory analysis.

34
For more information on MassDEP programs

• Web
• http//www.mass.gov/dep/water/drinking/leadothe.ht
  m
• Email
• Program.Director-DWP_at_state.ma.us
• Telephone
• main 617-292-5770

35
Yvette DePeiza

• 617-292-5857
• Yvette.depeiza_at_state.ma.us