Courtney Mabeus, The Examiner
2007-04-03 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

At least one water fountain, cooler or sink in nearly three-quarters of 129 public schools in the District of Columbia has an elevated level of lead in its water, test results obtained by The Examiner revealed.

The District of Columbia schools tested every sink, fountain and cooler used by some 50,000 students in 145 schools. Results of the tests are back for 129 schools. Of those, only 26 percent tested at acceptable levels of lead in drinking water, the results found.

Deputy Director for Facilities Paul Taylor said Monday he was awaiting results from an additional 16 schools to round out its findings. Taylor said he expects those results within days.

“I wouldn’t say it’s good or bad, it’s just a fact,” Taylor said Monday. “That’s what it is. I had no preconceived idea as to what I might find.”

Taylor could not be reached for additional comment. He said drinking facilities would remain out of service until tests no longer reveal elevated lead levels.

The findings could be another blow to the District’s troubled public schools, which have suffered dwindling enrollment and a number of embarrassments in past years over reports of crumbling facilities.

The worst offenders in the lead test results were Eastern Senior High in Ward 6, where 70 percent of sinks, fountains and coolers tested had elevated amounts of lead; Adams Elementary in Ward 1, where more than two-thirds of fountains, sinks and coolers tested for elevated lead levels; and West Elementary in Ward 4, where two-fifths of sinks, coolers and fountains contained elevated levels of lead.

“I think the school system has been negligent in informing teachers, parents and children and even the Board of Education about these issues,” Council Member Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, said. “It’s been too slow.”

Board of Education President Robert Bobb said he had not seen the updated results Monday. He said he planned to talk with Superintendent Clifford Janey about the findings.

“It always concerns me anytime we have lead in our water,” Bobb said. “We must be very aggressive about it.”

Overexposure to lead can cause a child’s mental and physical development to be irreversibly stunted, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA used to require that all school systems test for elevated lead levels in drinking water, but stopped more than a decade ago because some systems balked at the price tag, EPA spokeswoman Terri White said. Her office had not seen the results and would not comment on them.

“What was seen in the D.C. public schools was typical of what we see in other schools like Philadelphia and Baltimore that have large school buildings that were built years ago,” White said. “The good thing is that D.C. is doing this on its own.”

Tests performed in 18 facilities beginning last spring revealed lead levels above federal standards for drinking water at five schools. The findings were not made public until an oversight hearing before the D.C. Council’s public works and environment committee Feb. 14. That delay led to criticism of how Janey notified parents of the problem. Mayor Adrian Fenty intervened a few weeks later to step up testing at all schools within four weeks.

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com