Forum on Lead in Drinking Water in Public Schools
Monday, November 14, 2022
7:30 p.m. on Zoom
Register in advance: https://bit.ly/3Nyujvi
A public forum such as this is wholly inadequate and we will continue to press for answers and accountability on the public record through a joint legislative public hearing.
Public forums, such as the one organized for November 14, are not official proceedings of the government. Notice is not provided on the public meeting calendar, official minutes are not kept, and there is no legal recourse for misrepresentations by state agencies. Despite its appearance, this is not an official meeting of any public body and there is no accountability for those who share misinformation.
In sum, there is no assurance that the information provided at this forum will be factual or anything more than another phase of the misleading “damage-control” that we have already witnessed. Providing accurate information has been a challenge for the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Services throughout the three-years of this project. This is why a joint legislative hearing is necessary now.
Delaware public school students, employees, their families, and members of the public deserve that this issue be taken more seriously by our elected officials through a joint legislative hearing and a deliberate fact finding process that occurs on the public record.
The spectacle that occurred during October 2022 through numerous false statements in the press and at other public meetings where denials of accountability and finger-pointing were provided to the public by state employees should also be systematically addressed. Every effort should be made to ensure the integrity of state agencies, honesty in the sharing of public information by state employees, and commitment to follow through on the necessary changes to make sure the drinking water in our schools is safe. This includes taking responsibility when something goes wrong.
As well-intended as a forum exclusively advertised via word-of-mouth and on facebook may be, it is simply not enough. We hope that the legislators who sought to organize this online forum will also commit to the ongoing effort needed to make drinking water safe and to eliminate lead poisoning in our state, including:
State Funding: Unlike all other surrounding states, Delaware has never provided state funding for its lead poisoning prevention program. Instead, Delaware joins West Virginia as the only two east-coast states that rely exclusively on federal grants. As a result,
DHSS provides minimum tracking of lead poisoning cases, little information and few services for children with elevated blood lead levels, and no primary prevention measures.
DHSS has been unable to fulfill its requirements for staffing the Childhood Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee, even though that was mandated by HB 63 in 2021, and as a result the CLPAC is subject to Attorney General’s Opinion 22-IB31 for being out of compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.
DHSS has yet to complete the update to regulations required by HB 222 in 2021, which were to be finalized by June 30, 2022. These regulations are necessary for the implementation of the universal screening requirements for all children at 24 months of age in that bill.
Point-Of-Care Screening: Despite numerous requests over the years from advocates and the Childhood Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee, the Joint Finance Committee has failed to fund modest measures, such as expanding point-of-care screening.
ARPA Funds: Delaware neglected to apply for or utilize ARPA funds for lead poisoning prevention, even though many other states acknowledged the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on exacerbating childhood lead poisoning and reducing screening, and are using those funds for primary prevention, including water system upgrades to replace lead service lines and fixtures. Delaware’s childhood blood lead testing rates dropped significantly during 2020-2021 due to the pandemic and a lead equipment recall. In 2021, blood lead testing rates were 43% lower than 2016 levels.
Federal Grants for Abatement: Delaware was once a recipient of millions of dollars in federal funds through the Office of Lead Hazard Control & Healthy Homes for the remediation of lead paint hazards in homes, but DHSS has not applied for this grant since they completed their 2014 grant for $3,288,728 in 2017. Fortunately, New Castle County’s No Lead Program has filled some of that void, but DHSS should pursue every avenue to eliminate lead risks and not let this available funding slip away year after year.
There are no safe levels of lead in drinking water and there are no safe levels of lead in children’s blood. American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health (2016) recommended that “state and local governments should take steps to ensure that water fountains in schools do not exceed water lead concentrations of 1 ppb” (.001 mg/L). The European Union Drinking Water Directive for lead was lowered in 2021 to 5 µg/L (.005 mg/L) which becomes effective in 2036. FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) for bottled water is 5 ppb (.005 mg/L) for lead. EPA utilizes the “non-enforceable health goals” when evaluating lead in drinking water, which are “based solely on possible health risks”, called Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs). “The MCLG for lead is zero. EPA has set this level based on the best available science which shows there is no safe level of exposure to lead.”
Despite such health-based guidance, Delaware has been using what they are calling the MCL of 0.015 mg/L from the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule for this project. This is a “treatment technique”, not a health-based standard. We should not be confusing this with health guidance about what amount of lead in the drinking water of schools is safe.
We ask again for a joint legislative hearing.
Amy Roe, Ph.D.
Sarah Bucic, MSN
