Burying the lead
City mum on fixes for tainted school pipes
More than a year after tests found that 83 percent of 1,544 city school buildings had faucets with high levels of lead in their water, officials won’t say what’s been done besides turning off spoiled spigots.
Tests in late 2016 found water tainted with more than 15 parts per billion of lead, the “action level” under a new state law, flowing from 33,000 NYC public-school faucets and drinking fountains.
In form letters to families, the city Department of Education cited a cookie-cutter “response protocol,” which it said includes removing from service any fixture used for cooking or drinking, replacing equipment and re-testing.
But as students returned to school last week, the DOE refused to specify what equipment was replaced, or give the overall re-testing results.
“Water in schools is absolutely safe,” said spokeswoman Miranda Barbot. “We will share a citywide update on remediation in the coming weeks.”
The lack of transparency raises alarms after last month’s revelation by the New York City Housing Authority that 1,160 children living in public housing have tested positive for lead poisoning since 2012 — hundreds more than the city had previously acknowledged. The disclosure followed revelations that NYCHA had failed to conduct required lead inspections since 2013, and lied to the federal government about it.
Virtually every city school has some lead in its plumbing, according to records compiled by the state.
There is no known plan to replace the pipes but the DOE has promised to shut off every water outlet where tests found lead-laden water. Custodians are also instructed to flush the water systems on Monday mornings before school starts to eliminate stagnant water sitting in pipes over the weekend or longer breaks.
“It’s a step in the right direction. It’s not a permanent fix,” said Claire Barnett, executive director of Healthy Schools Network, a nonprofit watchdog group. “Remediation means fixing something.”
A sampling of DOE Web sites found that some schools report unspecified repairs, and cite follow-up tests showing lead levels below 15 ppb.
But other schools give no indication of any follow-up action.
At IS 239 Mark Twain in Coney Island, a highly sought-after middle school for the gifted and talented, a Jan. 23, 2017, letter states that tests found elevated levels of lead in 63 of 161 water samples taken from outlets in the building.
Lead levels in the school reached as high as 3,710 ppb in a classroom faucet, and 10,000 ppb in a lab faucet.
“We will keep you updated on the remediation work,” the letter states.
But no update is posted. Principal Karen Ditolla did not return a message for comment.
At Fashion Industries HS in Chelsea, 51 of 266 water samples had elevated lead levels, says a March 2, 2017, letter. One office faucet showed lead as high as 1,180 ppb. There is no update posted.
The Healthy Schools Network coled a statewide coalition that won passage of the nation’s first state law, enacted in 2016, requiring all public schools to test every tap for lead. Districts must report results to the state and post them online.
With the next round of tests not scheduled until 2020, the state Health Department told The Post it could not say what the city has done to repair lead-tainted fixtures or pipes. The state leaves it up to school districts and local health departments to monitor their own compliance, a spokesman said. The city Health Department did not respond to a request for information.
While any lead is potentially harmful to children’s health and development, 15 ppb requires immediate shutdown of the water outlet, Barnett said. “The only safe level of lead for a child is zero.”
She added, “We discovered that the schools with the greatest number of taps turned off tend to be occupied by the poorest and minority kids.”
However, those attending private schools “should take no comfort,” Barnett said. “There is no requirement that they do anything about lead in drinking water.”