by Tony Gray
posted 24 December 2021

ALBANY, NEW YORK --- Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) Thursday signed into law a bill drastically lowering the amount of lead allowed in school drinking water, to protect children from devastating lead contamination effects. Bill S2122A, introduced by State Senator Gustavo Rivera (D-33rd S.D.) limits lead in school drinking water to 5 parts per billion (ppb), one-third the currently allowed threshold of 15 ppb.

In addition to the lowered lead threshold, it specifies school lead testing must be conducted at least once every three years. Right now, the law only calls for "periodic" testing. Before the 2021 lead test, for example, Whitehall Central School District had previously tested for lead in 2016. So, less lead will be allowed and more frequent testing required.

Test results must also be published on school websites, and the Department of Health will post results from all schools on its website.

Schools that fail their lead test must provide free, safe drinking water to all students and staff until they pass the lead test.

"Early exposure to lead can create a lifetime of serious problems," said Senator Dan Stec (R-45th S.D.). "This new law builds off an existing one, making it stronger in a number of key ways to better protect children."

"What will be important going forward is the availability of state funding to help districts address safety issues that may be detected."

The new bill does include a funding mechanism that authorizes clean water infrastructure funds to cover remediation costs. It's unclear if the cost of providing bottled water would be considered a remediation cost that could be state-funded.

The newly signed law becomes effective Dec. 23, 2022.

"As young New Yorkers continue to be exposed to lead poisoning at an alarming rate, this new law will ensure we are proactive about testing and remediating lead in our school's drinking water," said Senator Rivera. "I want to thank Governor Hochul for signing this critical bill into law, which will further help protect our children from the dangerous effects of lead contamination while at school."

The new law affects Whitehall because Superintendent of Schools Patrick Dee informed Whitehall Board of Education members that 90 percent of district water outlets would fail under the lower lead limit. "We would have nine outlets [out of 95] that would pass under a reduction to 5 ppb, if that reduction passes legislatively" said Dee.

"The remainder would fail."

School drinking water is supplied by the village, which makes it unlikely the school will pass their next lead test, in 2014. The question is: what can the school do to lower the lead level in its drinking water?

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

"Even low levels of lead in the blood of children can cause behavior and learning problems, lower IQ and hyperactivity, slowed growth, hearing problems and anemia," according to the EPA website, adding, "In rare cases, ingestion of lead can cause seizures, coma and even death."

Filtration can remove lead from water at the source but the filters need to replaced regularly and don't work if improperly installed as recent results from Flint, Michigan determined.

Reducing the village water supply to contain a concentration of lead lower than 5ppb would be the best solution but that would be expensive, if not elusive, for local taxpayers.

Department of Public Works Foreman Steve Brock insisted, in June 2021, 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 at the time. "It could be solder or something in their home that could affect the sample but it has nothing to do with our system itself."

Identifying the remaining lead sources that reside in the village water supply would be hard and probably expensive. If the lead is leaching from pipes on private property, Whitehall may lack legal standing to remove replace them.

Village Mayor Julie Eagan was asked during the summer what the village policy would be in regards to reducing lead levels in village water if Rivera's bill became law. She had no comment then, saying village trustees were working on a policy so it would be inappropriate to comment before a policy decision was reached.

Meeting minutes from the last few months show no board discussion about the matter and a recent voice mail requesting comment from Mayor Eagan has not been returned, so it is unclear if the village will take action to lower lead levels.

Even though the law lowers the limit for school drinking water, the municipal supply is still subject to the 15ppb level. So, the village will remain compliant with law but their customer -- the school -- will have to figure out how to get the lead out.

Or, pay for a lot of bottled water.