Flint Lead Crisis Spurs Tests Here

As a new law requiring schools to test for lead in their water supplies awaits a signature by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a review of water testing procedures in local school districts shows wide variations in the frequency of testing. In districts that have voluntarily tested their water over the last three months, two found trace amounts of lead.

National attention to the presence of lead in school drinking water is part of the fallout from the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Mich., where high levels of lead were found in the water supply in residences and schools after what many residents alleged was city officials’ negligence. In March, testing found lead in the drinking water of 30 Newark, N.J., schools, prompting parents across the country to question the quality of the water their own children were drinking and washing with each day.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead damages organs and causes stunted intellectual development. The damages of lead exposure cannot be reversed. “Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to affect I.Q., ability to pay attention, and academic achievement,” the C.D.C. said. Based on a survey it conducted of 102 school districts on Long Island, Newsday reported two weeks ago that 21 districts on Long Island had found elevated levels of lead in drinking water, spurring many districts to replace water fixtures or take other actions.

Test results on the South Fork, obtained through freedom of information requests, show that the Sag Harbor Elementary and Sagaponack Schools had very small amounts of lead in water samples, but in both cases the levels were considered to be within the Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable limits of under 15 parts per billion, a level that could soon be lowered. That is also the level at which local utilities and the Suffolk County Department of Health Services say corrective action must be taken. (In contrast, testing in Flint showed some water samples contained lead at levels more than 10 times that, and in some cases far more.)

“There was no concern at all from Suffolk County Water Authority,” Katy Graves, Sag Harbor’s superintendent, said of the 1.43 parts-per-billion result at the elementary school. “They considered that trace.” There are some school districts on Long Island that are finding lead at levels requiring action, she said, “but not ours.”

Ms. Graves said the origin of the lead reading was unclear, as the plumbing at Sag Harbor Elementary had been upgraded since it was built.

The Sagaponack School had a reading of 3.6 parts per billion, still within acceptable standards for drinking water — but students in Sagaponack do not drink the tap water, which was where the water samples were drawn for testing. Rather, they drink bottled water. The Sagaponack School was built in 1885.

“We do not drink water from the tap,” Alan Van Cott, the superintendent, who just completed his third year with the school, said in an email. “However, since there has been increased attention to this issue, we thought it best to have the water tested.”

The analysis of water testing in local schools also showed how irregularly testing is done. There are no rules in place regulating testing. The East Hampton and Sag Harbor School Districts test their water supplies every year. East Hampton’s tests this year came back lead-free, as they have in recent memory, school officials there said. The Bridgehampton School tested its water for the first time in several years in 2013, a test that found no lead, before testing again this year. The school was still awaiting those results as of press time.

Neither the Suffolk County Water Authority nor the county have records of testing done at the Montauk School, and Jack Perna, the superintendent, who has been there in various capacities since 1973, said he has never known the water to have been tested there during his tenure. The school, which was constructed in 1927 and expanded in 1955, 1965, 1973, and 2000, operates on municipal water and has filters installed at its fountains. A Montauk School custodian conducted an in-house test this year using an over-the-counter kit, which came back negative for lead, and the school will repeat the test with a private company this summer, Mr. Perna said.

“We tested because of the Flint, Mich., situation,” he said. “If it’s worth anything, I’ve been here a long time and make my coffee with tap water everyday.”

A water test was performed at Wainscott’s new schoolhouse in 2007, the year it opened, according to a Suffolk County report. It was found to have a lead reading of 1.9 parts per billion, well below the remediation level. The school has since been hooked up to public water and had a filtration system installed, but its water has not been tested since 2007. Stuart Rachlin, the superintendent, said in an email that there is “no need for testing. Pipes from Suffolk County Water Authority to the new school are fine, and we use bottled water if necessary in the old school.”

The Sagaponack School’s most recent test before the one this year, according to Suffolk County Department of Health Services records, was in 2007.

Amagansett tests its water “every few years,” according to its superintendent, Eleanor Tritt. This year’s results came up negative for lead. The Springs School did not return a request for comment on how frequently the district tests its water. A test there by the Suffolk County Water Authority in April found that the water was lead-free.

Testing at schools on the South Fork has typically been done by a private company or by a public entity such as the Suffolk County Department of Health Services or the Suffolk County Water Authority. Private water testing in Sagaponack, for instance, cost less than $300, but in Amagansett it cost close to $2,000, although the county and Water Authority do not typically charge for their services.

These tests are timely now, as the New York State Senate and Assembly both passed a bill late this term, co-sponsored by State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., that promotes the testing of drinking water in schools. If Governor Cuomo signs the legislation, periodic testing will be required and state money will be available to offset the cost of testing and remediation in case problems are found. The bill also requires schools to share test results with parents and community members, but allows a testing waiver for schools built after 1986, which was the year the federal government outlawed the use of lead pipes in school building construction.

Assemblyman Thiele said Tuesday that while the situation in Flint was in the back of lawmakers’ minds as they processed the legislation, it was a recent situation in Binghamton that ultimately led to its passage. Lead was found in a school’s water supply there, he said, but no one told the parents or the community.

“Testing our drinking water in schools seems to be such a common sense thing to do,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “It’s hard to believe there have been issues with regard to this. No one likes state mandates, but this is something that clearly needed to be required because of the health importance and some school districts weren’t doing what needed to be done.”

Among school officials, the safety and financial aspects were key components in the soon-to-be-signed law.

“We have to be the leaders in safety, but I think our legislators have to balance funding when they pass school district legislation,” Ms. Graves said. “My hope is that they support the school districts with funding to balance this, should a district find lead or anything that is a hazard to children, especially with the tax cap burden.”

“For districts that don’t comply or aren’t proactive, I think the legislation is a really good idea,” Richard Burns, the East Hampton superintendent, said. “Things that involve the safety or well-being of children we have absolutely no issue with. We’re happy to comply and be proactive with it.”