A bill that aims to test the water supply of aging Colorado public schools for lead over the next three years is advancing in the state legislature, despite worries that cleanup costs will hurt already cash-strapped schools.
House Bill 1306 authorizes the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to establish a grant program to test for lead in drinking water in public schools that use public water systems.
Older elementary schools would be tested first, then the oldest public schools that are not elementary schools and then all other public schools. Testing and analysis is supposed to be finished by June 30, 2020, according to the bill.
As much as $300,000 could be used for the grants each year for three years, and another $140,000 would be spent to implement the program. The measure also requires school districts to chip in 10 percent in local matching funds and give the test results to the local public health agency, water supplier, school board and the CDPHE .
If a school tests positive for lead, the school district or a local government will have to pay for cleanup costs.
That will be a huge hurdle for some school districts struggling with already tight budgets, said Matt Cook, director of public policy and advocacy for the Colorado Association of School Boards.
“If the test of drinking water turns out to be elevated for lead there is really no funding to resolve that,” Cook said. “The district would have to figure out how to do that.”
Still, no schools want to have elevated lead in their drinking water, Cook said, and there is no “downside” to the bill.
HB 1306 passed the House Education Committee this week and is now at the House Appropriations Committee.
Lead in drinking water became a national issue in fall of 2015, when studies showed large numbers of children in Flint, Mich., had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The lead poisoning was traced back to the city’s drinking water system. Experts say lead in drinking water can severely impair a child’s physical and mental development.
Colorado’s largest school districts began testing for high lead levels last year and work began on either fixing sinks or water fountains or shutting them down completely.
In Jefferson County Public Schools, testing revealed elevated lead levels in 10 water sources between two schools.
All drinking water sources were brought up to standards by the end of 2016, said Jeffco School spokeswoman Diana Wilson.
Any faucets that tested over the EPA 15ppb recommended lead level were immediately taken out of use, Wilson said.
“All sinks in use in Jeffco Public Schools are in compliance with EPA recommendations,” she said.
Denver Public Schools and Denver Water began sampling water in all 180 DPS schools. The work is not yet complete, a spokesman said.
CLARIFICATION: This story was updated at 1:08 p.m. on April 19, 2017, to clarify that the bill would enable testing of school water sources for lead, not require it.
