Lead: still an issue

Time after time, every single school tested for lead in MCPS shows signs of lead contamination. In some elementary schools, tests show peak lead levels of 35,000 parts per billion (ppb), far surpassing the 20-ppb maximum, and for nearly eight months now, MCPS students have been exposed to the possibility of drinking lead every time they take a sip from a water fountain.

The solution to such a crisis is relatively simple—test only water sources from which people actually drink for lead contamination, and replace lead-leaching parts before checking other sources of water. Such a solution seemed to work for Prince George's County, who, according to The Washington Post, began remediation procedures as early as this summer and whose students started the school year reassured that their water was safe to drink.

Instead of following this protocol, MCPS chose the convoluted, senseless method of testing all water sources. MCPS tested 27,000 water samples when 1,500 to 2,000 samples would have sufficed to assure drinking-water safety. Many of these samples were also taken from sources like garden hose bibs and janitors' sinks, rather than solely the water fountains that could pose a health risk.
The only prevention mechanism MCPS has to protect students from lead is a stopgap directive that orders janitors to flush fountains for 15 minutes every four hours while buildings are in use.

Previous flushing directives mandated by MCPS proved worthless: a similar directive was mandated in 1986 and not followed in 1987; sure enough, lead was discovered in the 1988-1989 school year. Several new fountains and another failed directive later, MCPS got a nasty wake-up call in 2000: lead in Seneca Valley High School.
Evidence that this latest directive is not being followed abounds. For one thing, the directive has not been followed at Blair, where no one has seen any flushing this school year, much less every four hours as the directive mandates. For another, MCPS does not provide any means for and has little idea of how to flush fountains for extended periods of time. "It's a matter of just holding them down with a large paper clip, right?” asked MCPS spokeswoman Kate Harrison half-jokingly. In addition, janitors are not given any compensation for the extra time required to flush all water sources—janitors across MCPS must flush roughly 11,000 sources at least four times a day in addition to all of their other duties.

The frightening indifference with which MCPS has treated the lead situation exposes students and staff to the possibility of lead poisoning with little means of protection. Rather than passing the buck and holding janitors responsible for MCPS' own planning flaws, MCPS should take charge of the lead situation, test only water fountains and develop a solution to the plumbing system's lead problems once and for all.