Latino Children Again: Another dispute in schools, this time over lead in the water

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Children in school zones have been exposed to lead in different structures of their buildings, either in their walls or in paint. Others, mostly in vulnerable areas populated by a high Latino population, have become ill from being exposed to polluting factories that flood the environment.

Now, with the elections approaching next November, various groups for and against a petition are intensifying their campaigns to emerge victorious.

The SB1144 petition seeks to reduce lead in water consumed in California schools by replacing pipes and lowering the percentage of lead they contain.

Authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, on behalf of the California State Pipe Trades Council, the bill would require school districts to write a water efficiency and quality report determining lead levels in every building and replace or install filters on every fixture with high levels of lead. Districts could have to replace lead pipes in buildings—if the state dedicates funding to do so.

By default, the bill would adopt the current, outdated standard for unsafe concentration of lead in water. Set more than a decade ago by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it is 15 parts per billion. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many advocates for children’s health say anything over 5 parts per billion is hazardous for children’s health. President Joe Biden’s EPA administrator has said he favors lowering the threshold, and it could happen by 2024.

By default and if approved, the measure would embrace the current standards, 15 per billion, contrary to what opposition groups claim and that are recommended by government agencies, 5 per billion.

According to opposition groups, this measure would favor unions and workers who would have to change the pipes in schools.