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Some Ottawa parents are calling for the province to address lead levels in school drinking water after a report found that three schools in the city had some of the highest levels in Ontario.
Garrett Hansen and Barbara Daniela Gandolfo both have kids at Fallingbrook Community Elementary School, which was reported to have lead levels above accepted provincial standards by the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), an environmental advocacy group.
In March, the association published a report that found the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), the city’s biggest school board, had more test results above those standards than any other school board in Ontario.
The report also listed Fallingbrook as having the second-highest number of positive tests among OCDSB schools.
“It is every parent’s worst nightmare to discover that your child may have been exposed to dangerous levels of lead,” Gandolfo, whose son has been attending the school for five years, told CBC’s All In A Day.
Gandolfo said she’s told her son not to drink from school fountains, and that she plans to have him tested for lead accumulation in his system.
LISTEN | Parents voice their concerns about lead in Ottawa schools:
9:48Ottawa parents raise concerns about lead levels in school drinking water
Some Ottawa parents are petitioning Queen’s Park to overhaul schools within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to lower lead levels. They also want Ontario’s standard for lead in drinking water to match stricter federal guideline. Parents Garrett Hansen and Barbara Daniela Gandolfo both have kids at Fallingbrook Community Elementary School, which was reported to have lead levels above accepted provincial standard last year by the Canadian Environmental Law Association.
Hansen told the show his daughter is in kindergarten, so it’s harder for him to have a conversation with her about lead levels in water.
“The tap at Fallingbrook that had the issue … is in the kindergarten area. So that is quite troubling,” Hansen said.
The report also listed two other Ottawa schools whose tests exceeded limits: Orleans Wood Elementary School and Manor Park Public School.
Health authorities, including the World Health Organization, warn that even low levels of lead exposure can harm a child’s development.
The OCDSB says the board routinely tests fixtures at all schools each year. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)
Ontario’s maximum allowable lead level is 10 parts per billion (ppb) — double what Health Canada recommends.
According to the CELA report, Fallingbrook had nine tests that went over five ppb of lead and eight tests that exceeded 10 ppb.
When broken down by school board, the OCDSB is at the top in a list of the highest lead levels by Ontario school board, with 156 tests that exceed five ppb, and 104 tests that exceed 10 ppb.
Next behind the OCDSB is the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board, which had 85 tests that exceeded five ppb and 40 that exceeded 10 ppb
‘This isn’t an issue that needs to be Band-Aided’
In an emailed, OCDSB spokesperson Diane Pernari said the board routinely tests fixtures at all schools each year. She said if a fixture fails to meet provincial standards it is immediately taken out of service until it is repaired or replaced and passes a follow-up test.
Pernari added that some mandatory testing occurred during the unoccupied summer months when water consumption is significantly reduced, which the OCDSB believes contributed to elevated failures.
This year testing will occur during the school year, Pernari said, which will bring results in line with other school districts across the province.
In its own statement to CBC, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks said that in addition to mandatory testing, facilities are also required to flush their plumbing on a daily or weekly basis, depending on the most recent fixture test results.
Hansen is calling for Ontario’s standard to change, and for infrastructure fixes.
“This isn’t an issue that needs to be Band-Aided,” he said.