U.S. policymakers have laid out a variety of efforts to remove lead pipes from the nation’s drinking water system. Organizations such as the National Parent Teacher Association and National Education Association have sent the Environmental Protection Agency a letter, asking it to bolster the Lead and Copper Rule, which regulates the levels of these contaminants in public drinking water.
Environment America signed on to the letter, too, and the group’s John Rumpler says despite more awareness about the dangers, students and teachers still are at risk.
“What the data shows us, from the last few years, is that lead contamination of schools’ drinking water is widespread.”
The EPA is expected to consider the matter this fall, and advocates say they want them to be aggressive. Despite an overhaul of the Lead and Copper Rule in 2021, Rumpler still describes it as “weak” in protecting kids. He adds this is not just a concern regarding schools that were built decades ago.
“The federal standards limiting the amount of lead in plumbing and faucets and fountains was only updated as recently as 2014 – which means it’s quite likely that school buildings that are only a decade old have a substantial threat of lead contamination.”
The Biden administration is carrying out funding initiatives approved by Congress to remove lead pipes. That includes $426-thousand to address the matter in South Dakota schools. But, Rumpler says updating the federal rule would compel more states, school boards and utilities to respond.
(Story courtesy of the Greater Dakota News Service.)
Comments