More lead was found inside Oakland Unified School District pipes this week, raising even more concern about contaminated water.
Parents and students attended an orientation at Hillcrest Elementary earlier in the week, where they were issued a warning about seven water fixtures that tested above the legal limit for lead. One parent, Daniele Clendenning, said there are things officials can do to address the situation.
School District's Lead Contamination Problem
He noted that a similar issue last year was addressed by replacing some of the affected pipes, which was not able to completely remove the problem. The parent added that despite the warnings, they are not overly concerned, pointing to the water filtration system that is set up on campus.
However, a recent round of testing showed that some of the schools in the Oakland Unified School District continue to suffer from lead issues. Communications Director for OUSD, John Sasaki, said the system that is in place now is much better than the one in 2017, which is when they first dealt with lead issues, according to ABC7 News.
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There were changes to the state law in 2017 that prompted lead testing, and in the years since, OUSD has regularly tested water fountains and faucets. The EPA standard is that when lead exceeds 15 parts per billion, there needs to be public notification and treatment.
The OUSD's benchmark is much stricter, being five parts per billion. The school district noted that in a first round of testing last spring, they found that 83% of water sources were below five parts per billion. However, 6.5% were higher than the state and federal standard of 15 parts per billion.
Addressing the Issue
The latest district reports note that lead was found in pipes that lead to drinking fountains at campuses. The situation comes after the OUSD came under fire last August after nearly 200 fixtures throughout the district tested positive for lead, the NBC Bay Area reported.
During the latest school board meeting, school counselor Catherine Cotter said they were given a report that kids at the school were no longer allowed to drink water at their school. She said that she has the responsibility of raising any inequities she sees. She is demanding safe drinking water for their students immediately.
A teacher, Ella Every-Wortman, also stepped up and excoriated the board for "endangering" the school community. She argued that students and staff were left to drink water that was known to be contaminated from April to August. She called the delay on the part of OUSD negligent, as per the Oakland Side.
