Three years after the federal government set aside money for Georgia schools and childcare centers to test their water for lead, a majority still haven't.
11Alive News Investigates analyzed the data and found as of November 2024, just 15% of Georgia's schools have completed water testing through the grant funded program. Only 3% of childcare centers have.
Scientists and medical professionals have emphasized that exposure to lead, especially in childhood, can have lifelong impacts.
Jennette Gayer is the state director of Environment Georgia, a bipartisan nonprofit environmental advocacy group that has been tracking how much lead is in Georgia's pipes.
"It's a potent neurotoxin for children, which means it makes it harder to learn," Gayer said. "It has impacts on IQ levels, it has impacts on behavioral levels. And we know there's lead in schools.”
In 2021, a federal grant-funded program called Clean Water for Georgia Kids was established. The program is run by the Georgia Department of Education and RTI International, an EPA-accredited lead testing lab.
Any school or childcare center in the state can sign up to test their water for lead. The costs of testing and remediation are fully covered by the grant money, explained Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, senior director of Environmental Health and Water Quality at RTI International.
"We test every tap used for consumption," Redmon said. "We want to make sure every student is drinking, ideally, lead-free water. And when we find it, we then help to fix it."
The program is voluntary since there is no Georgia law in place requiring schools and childcare centers to test their water for lead.
Sarah Morris with the Georgia Department of Education said it's been difficult getting schools to sign on.
"Our biggest hurdle is overcoming the fear of testing," Morris said. "There's a fear out there of 'What if I find it?' and the fear that it creates in the community. Or 'What if I find something and I can't fix it?'"
Data shows that 337 of Georgia’s 2,355 public schools have completed testing. A majority of those were completed in 2024, after Gwinnett County Public Schools enrolled in the program.
Of all the schools statewide that have tested, as of November 2024, only 3 had no detectable lead at all.
Nearly half found levels above 15 parts per billion, the federal action level at which the EPA currently requires immediate action.
In October 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out new rules cracking down on lead levels in drinking water. The agency updated the Lead and Copper Rule, lowering the action level from 15 ppb to 10 ppb and mandating full replacement of all lead service lines across the country within 10 years. The new rule will take effect on December 29, 2024.
Gayer said Environment Georgia's analysis of that testing found no real rhyme or reason to which schools had lead-positive taps.
“New school or old school, wealthier communities, lower-income communities," she said. "What we know is if we test for lead, we find it."
While the Georgia Department of Education continues encouraging more schools to get on board, the state Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) is also ramping up its efforts.
Pam Stevens is deputy commissioner for DECAL, which oversees the estimated 4,300 childcare centers in Georgia.
"We've all known for a while that lead water is terrible for children," Stevens said. "It causes long-term cognitive and behavioral issues for kids that last a lifetime. So we know how important it was, but we just never had a resource to help us deal with that issue."
Stevens said when the Clean Water for Georgia Kids program was launched, DECAL jumped on the opportunity to encourage childcare centers to sign up.
"We were thrilled," she said. "We're doing everything we can to promote it."
Still, only 137 of the thousands of child or family care centers in Georgia have completed testing through the program as of November 2024.
Comments