Lead Found in Drinking Water at Boston Public Schools
Drinking fountains at four Boston public schools have now been found to contain alarmingly high levels of lead.
According to WBZ, elevated lead levels were discovered at drinking fountains located at Boston Latin Academy in Roxbury and the Richard J. Murphy K-8 School in Dorchester. The news comes after Monday’s announcement that unsafe levels of lead were found in drinking water at the Rafael Hernandez School in Roxbury and the Kenny School in Dorchester.
The discoveries were made after active fountains at all 38 of Boston’s public schools were tested.
At some of the schools, the level of lead was two to four times higher than the state standard for the amount allowed in drinking water.
Mayor Marty Walsh blamed old buildings and pipes for the issue, which he says need to be fixed immediately, according to WBZ.
“We have some old pipes that come into our schools, and we need to go back and fix those pipes,” Walsh said. “We cannot have kids, our kids, drinking water that has lead.”
Boston public school officials said in a statement that they are in compliance with state and federal drinking water regulations and that Mayor Walsh and Superintendent Tommy Chang were taking “proactive measures” beyond what is required by state and federal laws.
Following the discoveries, students at the four schools cited were given bottled water as a temporary replacement on Tuesday.
