Few Georgia schools opt in to EPA-funded lead testing for water pipes

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has offered to pay for schools and childcare facilities to test for lead in their pipes, but many schools in Georgia have been slow to accept the offer.

Around 17% of public schools in Georgia have opted in for testing and about 3% of childcare facilities, according to RTI International. Compare that to North Carolina, which has had 78% of schools and 74% of childcare centers tested for lead.

The difference: State law requires the testing in North Carolina.

Despite low percentages of schools willing to complete lead tests, some districts in Georgia have jumped on board.

Gwinnett County Public Schools, the largest school system in Georgia with nearly 180,000 students, decided to test every school with more than 14,000 individual fixtures, according to WABE.

Patrick Burke, interim chief operations officer at the district, told WABE that the testing was logistically challenging, but they achieved the goal.

“We had people coming in two, three in the morning sometimes, because we had to be here before our cafeteria started doing their work,” Burke said. “And it took quite a while to test a building, as you might imagine.”

Some of the hesitation around conducting the testing comes from concerns about costs to replace infrastructure and potential outcry from the public if lead is found, according to WABE.

“Not knowing whether there’s lead in your drinking water or not does not mean that it’s not actually there,” said Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, who leads the environmental health and water quality team at RTI International. “I think our data have shown that it is pretty commonly found.”