Lead In Wisconsin Water Blamed On ‘Regulatory Vacuum'

Months of testing indicate that public schools in Milwaukee, WI, are facing dangerously high levels of lead in drinking water, officials revealed this month.

In a release issued on December 16, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) officials attempted to allay concerns about safety: "Water coming from virtually all MPS drinking fountains meets [federal] standards."

But reports say the test results are concerning.

One review of the results by Fox 6 News shows “dangerous levels of lead at some schools. Our review of the records provided by MPS shows 176 drinking fountains were contaminated, and 21 tested above 15 parts per billion (ppb) on more than one occasion. More than 1,500 faucets tested above the EPA's recommendation for lead levels.” MPS began testing for lead in June.

An investigation by Wisconsin Watch, a news organization, says a “regulatory vacuum” is to blame for lead in Wisconsin schools. Per the report:

• There is a lack of testing for lead in drinking water consumed by children while away from home. Federal regulations enforced by the state of Wisconsin do not require most schools or day care centers to test at all. A 2016 USA Today investigation found that an estimated 90 percent of schools nationally are not required to test their water.
• There has been confusion over proper lead testing procedures at some schools, day care centers and public water systems in Wisconsin, as the Center has reported. This year, the state Department of Natural Resources waited nine months to send an official notice to public water system operators that the EPA had updated its testing recommendations in response to flaws uncovered by Flint, Michigan’s lead-in-water crisis.
• Lead service lines, a significant source of lead in drinking water, continue to provide water to hundreds of schools and daycare centers around Wisconsin. In other communities, officials are not sure how many schools and day cares have lead pipes.

Milwaukee officials say that “any fixture where the level exceeded the 15 parts per billion level deemed acceptable by the EPA was turned off and will be replaced and retested. It also said no MPS building had lead pipe laterals, meaning the problems were isolated to suspect fixtures,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.