Dear Senator Wellman, Senator Nobles, Senator Wilson, Senator Hawkins, Senator Dozier, Senator Hunt, Senator McCune, Senator Mullet, and Senator Pedersen;

The Eckstein Middle School PTSA, along with National PTA, supports clean drinking water in our schools to protect the health of our children. As such, we support House Bill 1139, which would pay for and require testing for lead and remediation of public school water outlets that have elevated levels of lead above 5 ppb.
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Our Washington State Department of Health (DOH) states: “Children six years old and younger are the most susceptible to the effects of lead. Their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults, and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. Even at very low levels of exposure to lead, children may experience effects including lower IQ levels, reduced attention span, hyperactivity, poor classroom performance, or other harmful physical and behavioral effects.”

Washington state currently runs a funded voluntary lead testing program through the DOH. According to this program, Seattle Public Schools has only tested 5 of its 104 school buildings. Of these 5 schools, 4 had fixtures with lead levels greater than 5 ppb.

Lead does not typically occur naturally in water supplies but comes into the water through contact with aging faucets and fountains. Often a simple filter is sufficient to remediate the problem and make the water safe to drink.

Some school districts in our state have opposed this bill on the basis that testing and remediation will be too costly. However, HB 1139 clearly states that (1) the testing will be paid for by DOH, (2) the remediation will be paid for by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and (3) the requirements of the bill are null and void if money is not appropriated for these purposes. There is clearly no undue burden on school districts to fix this problem.
As parents, we want every child to have clean drinking water at school. We urge you to ensure the health and safety of our children by passing HB 1139.

Sincerely,
​Eckstein Middle School PTSA Board