by Tony Gray
posted 8 June 2021
edited 9 June 2021

WHITEHALL, NY --- School drinking water may soon be safer to drink if pending state legislation is enacted to drastically lower the "safe" lead level in school drinking water, from 15 parts per billion to 5 ppb. Senate bill s2122a, sponsored by Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D WF - 33rd Senate District) has been passed by the Senate and Assembly. It should be forwarded soon to Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Schools that test positive for lead contamination will have to provide adequate amounts of safe water to school occupants, for free, if Cuomo approves the new law.

That could be a big deal for the Railroaders because, while only six Whitehall water fountains failed a 2016 state-mandated water test that looked at 95 district water sources, those results would flip under the new law. About 90 percent of outlets passed under the 15 ppb limit but 90 percent are expected to fail under the stricter limit, according to Superintendent of Schools Patrick Dee.

"We have 26 outlets that didn't pass five years ago and we still have 26 this year," Superintendent Dee recently informed Board of Education members, noting that only six of the outlets were drinking fountains. "We would have nine outlets that would pass under a reduction to 5 ppb, if that reduction passes legislatively. The remainder would fail."

Dee may be optimistic about nine water outlets passing since the latest available water test report shows village water contained lead at levels more than 50 percent above the proposed 5 ppb limit. The school gets its water from the village. If water entering school lines has more than the legal limit, will any school water outlet pass?

The EPA requires municipal water suppliers to test its water and publish a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) every year and make it available upon request. The 2019 Village of Whitehall CCR shows lead levels of 8.1 ppb when tested in August 2019.

Even though the 8.1 ppb level is only about half of the current state and EPA limit, it's well above the new proposed limit for schools. A new report is scheduled for release in early July but the lead level probably won't change because it is not tested every year. EPA regional spokeswoman Mary Mears didn't respond to an email asking why an annual report doesn't require annual testing.

"We're only required to test for lead every four or five years, said George Rockenshire of the Village Water Department, adding they're due for another round of samples right after this year. "The DOH [Department of Health] schedule doesn't require us to do it until they send us the report to do it." New York State's DOH enforces the federal EPA law, he added.

Tests are snapshots in time, which is why it's surprising the EPA and DOH allow years between lead tests in drinking water. Whitehall's lead level for its 2018 Whitehall CCR used a July 2016 test that showed 7 ppb lead in the water. Why did lead levels increase from 7 to 8.1 ppb in three years?

Rockenshire said it all depends on where you sample and how many samples are taken. "The DOH tells you where to go to get your sample," he said, "If your lead and copper are down for a number of years, they reduce the number of sites."

Ten sampling sites were provided by DOH for the 2016 lead and copper tests; there were 11 sites for the 2019 tests, according to footnotes of the CCRs for the two years. Rochenshire said the village had to sample up to 45 in some previous years.

When metal water pipes are replaced, the village uses C900 pvc water pipe now, according to Rochenshire.

Department of Public Works Foreman Steve Brock insists there is no lead in the village water system, except what comes from residences. "There are some houses here that have lead lines," said Brock. "It could be solder or something in their home that could affect the sample but it has nothing to do with our system itself."

Language in the proposed law says remediation costs will be be fully reimbursable from funds appropriated through Department of Environmental Conservation clean water infrastructure projects. But the school will be on the hook for providing free water until they can pass their lead tests at the new, lower level.

Would the school district have to raise taxes to pay for bottled water? Or, would the village have to find the money to make its water meet the new school standard? That's hard to say because only school water is subject to the new lead level so the village is in compliance with federal and state law. Would they shoulder the financial burden, or shrug their shoulders as if to say, "Not our problem," and leave it to the school to fix?

"We're coming up with a plan but we don't want to speak about it now because it's in its infancy," said new Village Mayor Julie Eagan, adding "water is a big deal in Whitehall." The mayor said the village is working with DEC and DOH to make sure they comply with state laws while also trying to use taxpayer dollars wisely.

One of the measures underway is a project to replace some sewer laterals -- the lines that connect a home to village sewer lines -- using grant money from a Department of Housing and Urban Development program. The Chasen Company is managing the project, according to Eagan. "This year, probably 14 will be replaced. They were the only one that applied. [HUD] reached out to people they identified but only 14 people replied," Eagan said. "Pretty much everyone who applied was approved."

Bob Murray is The Chasen Company project manager who has overseen most of the water and sewer projects in Whitehall. "Those 14 people have approval to replace the sanitary sewer lateral from the house to the collection system in the street," Murray said, explaining "we have a grant to help someone replace those laterals because they are often broken. The idea is to take the groundwater out of the sanitary sewer system."

While that will help the village comply with a DEC consent order on sanitary drains it doesn't include water laterals, which are a probable source of lead in drinking water. Since many homeowners have removed lead pipes from their homes and lead solder is considered to be a minimal issue by the EPA, the main source of continued high lead levels may be lead service laterals that connect the village distribution system to residences. Murray said he has a survey that indicates more than 2,000 village sewer laterals need replacement.

DPW Foreman Brock said no village census of service laterals exists that notes the material of those pipes. Brock noted they would only know about a homeowner's line if they need to work on the shutoff valve that connects a lateral to the village distribution system. "If we find a lead lateral we let the property owner know," Brock said, adding the village can't force people to replace their line but believes most would be concerned enough for their family's health they would replace it once they knew it was lead.

Senator Daniel Stec (R-45th Senate District) supports S2122a and voted "yes" in committee April 26. "As we know, lead is a neurotoxin that is especially dangerous to children. Reducing risk of exposure is critically important," said Stec's Communications Director Daniel Mac Entee. "Senator Stec said it is important that funding be provided to schools through the Clean Water Infrastructure Act."

If the law passes, New York would join a handful of states with stricter limits than the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which were set in 1991. President Donald Trump enacted a revision that lowers the lead action level to 10 ppb, which should be finalized this year.

But, is even 10ppb lead safe? Some medical researchers and scientists don't believe so. The federal Food and Drug Administration limits the amount of lead in bottled water to 5 ppb. It's unclear why municipal water is allowed to contain 3 times more lead than bottled water.

The Mayo Clinic says even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems. "Lead is a toxin to the human body and especially harmful to children due to their developing brain and nervous system," said Dr. Marcie Billings - a pediatrician with Mayo Clinic's Children's Center. "The effects of lead are also not reversible." At very high levels, lead poisoning can be fatal.

Generally, lead affects children more than it does adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which adds children tend to show signs of severe lead toxicity at lower levels than adults.