Millett bill to ensure safe drinking water in schools clears Committee
The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted 8-1 Thursday to support a bill from Sen. Rebecca Millett, D-Cape Elizabeth, that would ensure safe drinking water in Maine schools.
As amended, the bill, LD 40, “An Act To Strengthen Requirements for Water Testing for Schools,” would require all schools to test drinking and cooking water for lead contamination.
“Kids should be able to go to school and learn without fearing that the water in the fountains will cause them harm,” said Sen. Millett. “Lead poisoning can have disastrous, long-lasting effects on children, and it is our responsibility to keep them from that harm whenever possible.”
Lead poisoning causes permanent and irreversible cognitive impairment. Children and their developing brains are especially at risk of damage from exposure to lead.
A recent report from Environment Maine, “Get the Lead Out: Ensuring Safe Drinking Water for Our Children at School,” grades states for their work to protect children from lead poisoning at school. Maine, along with 11 other states, earned an “F.” The report also noted that Maine has “particularly corrosive water, which can dissolve lead from plumbing systems” and into the water supply.
Among other recommendations, the report advises that Maine should “require testing of all water outlets used for drinking or cooking at all schools annually, using protocols designed to capture worst-case lead exposure for children.”
Maine law currently requires water testing only at those schools that draw from non-public water sources. But recent news reports have shown that schools using public water supplies are not immune to lead contamination. LD 40 would apply testing requirement to all schools, and would require public notification of those results, so that parents and the public can make informed decisions. The Department of Health and Human Services would be able to prohibit the use of water for drinking or cooking if a school district doesn’t do needed mitigation or abatement of lead contamination.
LD 40 now heads to the Senate for initial votes.
