Lead Found In 5 Austin ISD Schools' Drinking Water

AUSTIN, TX — The drinking water at five Austin Independent School District campuses have been found to contain lead, according to an Austin-based environmental group's most recent data.

Released Tuesday, the findings from Environment Texas follow the revelation last September of nine schools and facilities which tested positive for the toxic heavy metal, officials at Environment Texas said. In response to the findings, Austin ISD officials have committed to installing filters or replacing water fountains,.

But environmental advocates called for additional testing, greater transparency and full remediation. The group's findings were based on information secured from the school district by virtue of the Freedom of Information Act requests.

"Unfortunately, there's no law that requires schools to get the lead out, so we appreciate Austin ISD proactively testing and replacing water fountains with lead in the water," Luke Metzger, Executive Director of Environment Texas, said in a prepared statement. "This new data confirm that lead isn't an isolated problem, however, and we need to act expeditiously to test and remediate all schools."

The schools testing positive for lead are:

• Boone Elementary, 8101 Croftwood Dr., in the western part of the city.
• Patton Elementary, 6001 Westcreek Dr., also in West Austin.
• Bailey Middle School, 4020 Lost Oasis Hollow, Southwest Austin.
• Covington Middle School, Southwest Austin.
• Lanier High School, North Austin.

The data show lead has newly been discovered at Boone & Patton Elementary, Bailey and Covington Middle, and Lanier High School. Last year, testing found lead in the drinking water of Ridgetop, Sanchez, Widén, Zavala, Pleasant Hill, and Barrington elementary schools, the Burger Activity Center, Becker House and the Noack Sports Complex. The district is installing filters or replacing the water fountains at all the schools.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “even at half the levels previously considered safe, growing evidence shows a child’s exposure to lead can cause irreversible cognitive and behavioral problems…including lower IQ scores and academic performance, inattention, impulsivity, aggression and hyperactivity,” researchers noted.

After Environment Texas drew attention to the issue last September, AISD committed to test all the water fountains at 1/3 of schools each year, testing every fountain over the course of three years, officials said. Nevertheless, the new data show Austin ISD has thus far tested just 19 percent of schools and facilities, and the school district has not posted new test results, according to Environment Texas. Austin ISD open records officials told Environment Texas it would take up to five months to comply with the non-profit’s request for internal communications related to that issue, analysts noted.

In response to the findings, Austin ISD officials said lead levels just more than one part of lead per billion parts water, with Lanier High School testing as high as nine parts per billion — levels considered safe given the 15-parts-per-billion level that would prompt orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to take steps to ensure eradication or mitigation of the lead.

Regardless whether the levels are deemed "safe," Environment Texas officials called on AISD to:

• Get the latest testing data up on their website right away and let parents know it's there.
• Test every water fountain in every school this summer before kids return to classes
• Immediately comply with the organization’s open records request for copies of internal communications about lead testing
• Identify pipes, plumbing, fountains and/or fixtures that contain lead and come up with plan to remove them. While filters are an important short-term fix, Environment Texas said replacing all lead-bearing parts is the most effective, permanent solution to prevent contamination of the water our children drink at school.

"School districts are largely left to address lead contamination on their own, as current state law does little to prevent children’s drinking water from becoming laced with lead at school," officials at the environmental group said. "There is currently no federal or state law that requires Texas schools to take action when there is elevated levels of lead in the drinking water. Last year, Environment Texas gave Texas a grade of F in addressing this threat to children’s health."

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