A KIRO-7 investigation shows high levels of lead are still being found in public school drinking water, but state-mandated lead testing is lagging behind an approaching 5-year deadline to protect children from potentially drinking dangerous amounts of lead.
It’s been more than four years since Washington passed a law mandating lead testing in public school drinking water, but KIRO-7 found hundreds of schools still have no testing data anywhere on record, state health officials say — and results from many recent tests may not be publicly available for parents to see, for months.
All public schools in Washington State were supposed to have been tested for lead, taken immediate action on high levels, and publish the data by June 30th of this year.
This investigation began when a concerned parent in the Fife School District was frustrated at the lack of information about his child’s school, where 57 fountains and taps were only recently tested, and 51 showed lead levels above the state’s action threshold of 5 parts per billion.
Forty-six of those — more than 80 percent — tested at more than three times the state limit, triggering a requirement for immediate shutoff.
KIRO-7 started digging into the data and followed it to the state lawmaker who crafted the 2021 law. “When I found out about the delay in testing and publishing the data, I was outraged,” said State Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-46th District, who crafted and fought to pass the 2021 legislation. A public health instructor at the University of Washington School of Public Health, Pollet said the law carried a clear mandate.
“There is absolutely no level of lead that is safe to be consumed,” Pollet said. “What parent sends their child to school to have them drink the water and lower their IQ?”
In KIRO 7’s investigation, we reveal what parents of students need to know about this law, and their rights to get information about lead levels in their schools.
“This is very serious — and that’s one of the reasons why we should have taken action as fast as possible. Not waited,” Pollet said.
Pollet said he began looking into testing statewide after being contacted by KIRO 7 and was surprised by what he found: many schools had only recently been tested, numerous results had not yet been published, and some schools had not been tested at all.
Thursday at 5:30, KIRO 7 reveals how many schools have—and have not been tested for lead, the tools parents have to find information regarding their schools, and why the lawmaker says this could be putting some students at risk even into next school year.
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