Lead Testing

FILE - In this May 31, 2016, file photo, a water fountain is covered because of lead in the drinking water at Creston Elementary School in Portland, Ore. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)

(Beth Nakamura)

Testing at Massachusetts public schools identified unsafe levels of lead or copper in the water at close to 600 schools.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection began a program in April 2016 to test water in schools. Schools could volunteer to participate in the program, and the state would provide technical assistance and pay for the testing.

The initiative came in response to reports from Flint, Michigan, and elsewhere of contaminated water supplies causing public health problems.

"In the wake of Flint and other developments, we really wanted to make sure we were helping schools to do the testing that needed to be done of their faucets," said Commissioner Martin Suuberg of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

The final report, released this week, reported that state officials took approximately 56,000 samples from 32,000 fixtures in 818 schools. These include a mix of water fountains, classroom and bathroom faucets, kitchen kettles and other fixtures. The testing covered slightly fewer than half the public schools in the state.

The report found that 72 percent of the schools, or 588 schools, had one or more fixtures exceeding recommended levels for lead or copper, most of them for lead. Of all the samples, 9 percent, or around 5,000 samples, exceeded recommended levels.

Kitchen kettles and classroom faucets were most likely to have high levels of lead or copper. Suuberg said some of these were fixtures that are rarely used so there was standing water. Others were used more frequently.

The schools did not receive state money to fix the problems, but Suuberg said in many cases, the schools were able to make fixes within their current budgets. For example, they turned off fixtures, flushed them out or replaced them. Grants and loans are sometimes available from water suppliers and other state programs if larger plumbing projects are required, such as replacing pipes.

The program's budget was $2.1 million, and it has $600,000 left. Environmental officials hope to use that money to continue the testing program at additional schools through the end of the year.

"We think the idea of detecting it and dealing with it is the right thing to do," Suuberg said.

The school-by-school results of the tests and the full report follow:

Lcca Schools List by The Republican/MassLive.com on Scribd

leadinschoolsprogramfinalreport-522017 by The Republican/MassLive.com on Scribd