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Va. Tech team to check D.C. schools’ water for lead
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A Virginia Tech professor renowned for his expertise in lead testing is so worried about lead in the water of D.C.’s public schools that he told The Examiner he’s using university dollars and personnel to do extensive sampling and analysis of the water in school buildings.
Marc Edwards, who has tackled the lead problem citywide since 2003, is hoping to start testing in four to-be-named public schools next month and then continually monitor the situation during the school year.
The latest testing of D.C. schools in the spring found that three-quarters of buildings had problems with lead in the water.
Since that time, facilities leaders have installed new fountains and filters systemwide. Very basic checks of the new equipment performed this summer suggested that lead levels were far lower, officials said. Yet Edwards and two community groups said they were not convinced.
“Really, it’s a question of how long it will take for the problems to return,” he said Wednesday. “I’m very concerned. It’s a very difficult thing to solve. ... Purportedly we solved this twice before in D.C., but that didn’t really happen.”
Edwards first tried to get into the schools to test for lead in the water two years ago but was denied access. This time, administrators granted permission for Edwards and a core group of eight to 10 students and researchers to take samples and inspect the water.
Cost was a barrier, however, which is why Virginia Tech will be footing the bill for all the lab fees and materials. Edwards also won a McArthur Fellowship and was able to secure federal funds.
Yanna Lambrinidou, of the group Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives, which is part of the effort, said one important reason for the outside testing is that for years the District has used outdated testing protocols, such as flushing the systems before inspectors had done their initial checks.
“That makes the problem appear less severe than it really is, and we want to understand the true depths of the issue,” she said.
Tony Robinson, spokesman for facilities chief Allen Lew, told The Examiner in an e-mail that Lew’s office sees Edwards’ involvement as a good thing to see whether the new filters are limiting the lead.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, overexposure to lead can irreversibly stunt a child’s mental and physical development.
The EPA used to require that all school systems test for elevated lead levels in drinking water but dropped that mandate more than a decade ago.
dlevitz@dcexaminer.com
