Oakland school district says it failed to properly warn parents about lead in water
A major Northern California school district disclosed Monday that nearly 200 of its drinking fountains and water faucets have elevated lead levels and that parents were wrongly kept in the dark.
A major Northern California school district disclosed Monday that nearly 200 of its drinking fountains and water faucets have elevated lead levels and that parents were wrongly kept in the dark.
The Oakland Unified School District, the state’s 11th-largest system, with more than 45,000 students, recently tested 1,083 of its campus faucets and fountains, looking for lead concentrations of more than 5 parts per billion (ppb).
The district's 5 ppb standard is more stringent than state and federal guidelines of 15 ppb.
Among the results:
Of the 186 that came in at 5 ppb or higher, "61 fixtures have been fixed so far," with more to come, officials said.
Rating: 5