{"id":349882,"date":"2026-09-18T02:32:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T02:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349882\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T02:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T02:32:27","slug":"report-over-12000-ny-school-water-outlets-exceed-lead-limit-lawmakers-urged-to-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349882\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Over 12,000 NY school water outlets exceed lead limit; lawmakers urged to act"},"content":{"rendered":"

Albany, N.Y. \u2014 (WRGB) \u2014 More than 12,000 water outlets in New York state schools have tested above the safe threshold for lead, including in the Capital Region, according to a new report<\/a> that argues outdated state requirements are leaving children at risk.<\/p>\n

The report from the New York Public Interest Research Group<\/a> found that more than 40 percent of schools statewide exceed the limit for lead levels in their drinking water, based on self-reported data from schools.<\/p>\n

Kate Canada, Environment America hiring director, who worked on the review, said local results showed elevated lead levels in multiple Capital Region counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlbany and Schenectady County also had a significant percentage of schools with drinking outlets testing above the limits. Schenectady County ranked 13th statewide,\u201d Canada said.<\/p>\n

At least half of schools in Albany and Schenectady counties have at least one drinking water outlet above state standards, the report said. In Rensselaer County, 10 percent of schools reported excessive lead levels.<\/p>\n

Blair Horner, NYPIRG senior policy adviser, said the state\u2019s current approach is falling short. \u201cThe existing program is not working as it should,\u201d Horner said.<\/p>\n

Horner called for a shift from a \u201ctest and fix\u201d model to broader prevention, including filters at every outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think a filtration system placed on all drinking water outlets at every school should be a key component of reform,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Horner estimated installing water filters would cost about $100 million and said the state could pay for it through the Clean Water Infrastructure Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think the money is there. The governor expressed her interest in this and the state addressed this past January, but no legislation passed this year,\u201d Horner said.<\/p>\n

Horner urged state leaders to act, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re telling Albany and we\u2019re telling the Governor, get the lead out.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the governor shared the following statement:<\/p>\n

“Under the leadership of Governor Hochul, New York has built a stronger system of accountability and prevention when it comes to the drinking water at our schools. Every child should be able to count on clean, safe drinking water and we will continue to take aggressive action to protect the health and safety of the students and faculty across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can read the full report below:<\/p>\n

Get the lead out New YorkPDF previewPreview PDF<\/p>\n

View PDF<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albany, N.Y. \u2014 (WRGB) \u2014 More than 12,000 water outlets in New York state schools have tested above…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-349882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}