Testing At CCR-1 Finds 18 Outlets With Excessive Lead Levels

Testing at the Crawford County R-1 School District in March found 18 of 118 water outlets with excessive lead levels.

The testing was done as part of Missouri’s Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act.

Any outlet with testing above 5 parts per billion were deemed excessive, though it is agreed that no level is safe in the body.

Eleven of the outlets were located in the elementary school.

Ten were in the kitchen and one in the nurse’s room.

Seven more were located in the high school. 

In a letter to parents dated March 25, Crawford County R-1 said the water sources would be turned off; signage would be posted not to drink water; faucets would be replaced; filters would be installed, if necessary; and, follow-up testing would be conducted to ensure remediation efforts are effective.

Environmental Works conducted the testing in March.

All outlets must be remediated by the 2024-25 school calendar.

The legislation mandated that only water supplied for drinking and food preparation/cleanup needed to be tested.

Water used for showers, hand washing stations or toilet flushing did not need to be tested.

Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water was signed by Gov. Mike Parson in 2022. 

Crawford County R-1 was allocated $22,275.19 for testing remediation.

Superintendent Cole Byassee told the school board last fall that the funding would be enough to make the district compliant. 

Missouri has had a lead ban in place since 1998. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that many household plumbing fixtures, welding solder and pipe fittings made prior to 1986 may contain lead.

Lead water lines are still in use throughout the United States.

Lead can leach a dangerous neurotoxin into drinking water.

Doctors have found that young children are the most vulnerable since their bodies absorb more lead.

As a result, Missouri’s bill said early childhood education buildings must be prioritized. 

Elevated levels of lead can result in lost IQ points, behavioral issues and even death.

Early drafts of the bill would have been even more stringent, forcing schools to remediate any outlet with lead concentrations above 1 part per billion.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that as the maximum level.

However, legislators amended the bill, finding that the sophisticated lab testing required to detect concentrations that low was not readily available.