On April 9, 2018, legislation took effect that mandates all public and nonpublic schools that receive drinking water from a public utility test for the presence of lead in the drinking water once every three years.[1]  Schools that receive drinking water from a private source, such as a well, are governed by federal regulations that impose similar requirements.[2]  As of December 2018, all elementary schools in the State of Maryland built prior to 1988 have completed the first round of testing.[3]  The first round of testing yielded 31,532 total draw samples.[4]  Of that, 1,087 samples exceeded the Action Level permitted.[5] 42.5% of the 1,087 samples that exceeded the Action Level permitted came from drinking outlets in the submitting schools, as opposed to non-drinking outlets.[6]  Maryland schools have struggled to deal with elevated level of lead in drinking water for quite sometime.  For example, all but nineteen (19) public schools in Baltimore City provided drinking water through bottled jugs rather than the water system even before the required testing as a result of contaminated water.[7]

When House Bill 270 (“HB 270”), the legislation that was ultimately enacted on April 9, 2018, was first proposed, the purpose was to ensure that all schools are in compliance with newer regulations regarding drinking water and plumbing and to ensure drinking water was safe for consumption by children.[8]  Considering the significant number of samples that contained lead, one might be wondering what the protocol is for handling an elevated sample?  According to the Maryland Department of the Environment “Testing for Lead in Drinking Water – Public and Nonpublic Schools Training Manual,” if a school receives an elevated lead report the school must immediately close access to that source of water within 24 hours of receiving notification of the elevated level and sufficient drinking water alternatives must be provided for faculty and students.[9]  Once proper measures are taken within the school, the school must also provide written notice to parents and guardians regarding the elevated lead levels and post a notice to the school’s website.[10]  But further, the legislation outlines appropriate remedial measures to ensure that access to the lead-infused water ceases and that students and faculty have access to clean drinking water.

Appropriate remedial measures outlined in the same training manual published in 2018 include installing and maintaining filters at the drinking outlets, the repair or replacement of the plumbing or drinking outlet itself, reconfiguring plumbing, or providing approved water bottles if necessary.[11]  Once remedial measures are taken, the school must submit another water sample for testing in order to ensure compliance and decreased lead levels.[12]Some schools that received elevated drinking level reports are following suit of Baltimore City and providing pre-filtered water from bottled jugs if the cost and efforts associated with repairing or replacing plumbing is too significant.

The new legislation was necessary and long overdue, similar to the plumbing and water systems many schools water flows from.  In the first bout of testing, nineteen (19) schools in Anne Arundel County alone found elevated levels of lead in their drinking water causing concern for many parents and educators.[13]  Some of the schools that noted elevated lead levels were able to remediate the issue with a simple flush of the schools’ water system and re-testing, while other counties grapple with installing filtration systems.  When Delegate Steve Lafferty, who introduced this legislation, heard the results of the first round of testing, he said, “I was hoping to see that nobody had any problems . . . but this was exactly the purpose. Let’s see if there are problems and correct them now!”[14]

Amy L. Valdivia will receive a Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore School of Law in May 2019, with a concentration in criminal law.  Ms. Valdivia grew up in Essex, Maryland and currently resides in Harford County. For the past two years, Ms. Valdivia has served as a Student Attorney for the Innocence Project, where she investigates innocence claims and represents wrongfully convicted individuals.  Prior to law school, she received a B.S. in Justice Studies from James Madison University.  Ms. Valdivia is excited to announce that following the Bar exam she will begin her career as an Assistant Public Defender for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. Ms. Valdivia may be reached at amy.valdivia@ubalt.edu with questions or comments.

All thoughts and opinions expressed in this article are my own.

She may be reached at amy.valdivia@ubalt.edu with questions or comments.

[1]https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Water/water_supply/Pages/Testing-For-Lead-In-Drinking-Water-Public-and-Nonpublic-Schools.aspx

[2]Id.

[3]Id.

[4]https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Water/water_supply/Documents/HB270%20
Webpage_Summary_Results.pdf

[5]Id.(noting that the permitted Action Level is 20 parts per billion (ppb))

[6]Id.

[7]Scott Dance and Lauren Lumpkin, State mandated testing finds lead in water at two dozen local schools; Baltimore and Howard counties will test this year,The Baltimore Sun,Aug. 17, 2018, https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/investigations/bs-md-sun-investigates-school-lead-testing-20180817-story.html

[8]H.B. 270 (2017).

[9]https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Water/water_supply/Documents/SLT_Training_Presentation.pdf

[10]Id.

[11]Id.(noting that these are some, but not all, of the outlined remedial measures suggested).

[12]  Id.

[13]Scott Dance and Lauren Lumpkin, State mandated testing finds lead in water at two dozen local schools; Baltimore and Howard counties will test this year, The Baltimore Sun,Aug. 17, 2018, https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/investigations/bs-md-sun-investigates-school-lead-testing-20180817-story.html

[14]Libby Soloman, First round of Baltimore County water tests finds lead at Pot Spring, West Towson and Padonia elementaries, other schools, The Baltimore Sun,Nov. 19, 2018 https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/towson/ph-tt-lead-1121-story.html