The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) district plans to inspect all elementary schools built before 1978 for lead before the start of the next school year. The announcement came in the district’s Lead Action Plan on April 28. MPS has 54 elementary schools built before 1950 in the district and 52 built between 1950 and 1978. Lead-based paint was banned by the federal government in 1978. Lead dust is often formed as lead paint chips and wears down, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Along with the school inspection plan, the district also announced the closure of two more MPS schools due to lead hazards in the buildings.

Lead hazards have been found in nine MPS schools so far, and four district students have tested positive for lead poisoning. The newest closings involved two elementary schools, Brown Street Academy and Westside Academy. A visual assessment released by the Milwaukee Health Department found lead dust hazards on the floors and horizontal surfaces in both buildings. The assessment also identified chipping and peeling paint in the properties.

Four MPS schools have already temporarily closed due to lead hazards. Two have since reopened, while the other two are still closed while lead remediation work continues. Lead cleanup work has already cost the district nearly US$2 million, NPR reported.

No amount of lead in the blood is safe for children, and the CDC has found that children under the age of 6 are the most at risk of lead poisoning.

As CMM previously reported, the CDC has rejected a request from Milwaukee health officials for help with the lead poisoning investigation, after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eliminated the agency’s response team amidst mass firings across multiple federal health agencies.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlined upcoming agency action to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a long list that included in part the designation of an agency lead for PFAS, the creation of effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for certain PFAS to stop forever chemicals from entering drinking water systems, and initiatives to engage with Congress and industry to establish a clear liability framework that ensures the polluter pays and passive receivers are protected.

With these actions, the EPA will provide the foundation and investment necessary for a toolbox that will help states and communities dealing with PFAS contamination. The actions are the first, not the last, of all decisions the EPA will be taking to address PFAS, the agency said.

The EPA’s action plans include:

• Implement a PFAS testing strategy under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 4 to seek scientific information informed by hazard characteristics and exposure pathways.   
• Launch additional efforts on air-related PFAS information collection and measurement techniques related to air emissions.   
• Identify and address available information gaps that currently prevent the measurement and control of some PFAS.  
• Provide more frequent updates to the PFAS Destruction and Disposal Guidance—changing from every three years to annually—as EPA continues to assess the effectiveness of available treatment technologies.  
• Ramp up the development of testing methods to improve detection and strategies to address PFAS. 
• Develop ELGs for PFAS manufacturers and metal finishers and evaluate other ELGs necessary for reduction of PFAS discharges. 
• Address the most significant compliance challenges and requests from Congress and drinking water systems related to national primary drinking water regulations for certain PFAS.  
• Add PFAS to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in line with Congressional direction from the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. 
• Achieve more effective outcomes by prioritizing risk-based review of new and existing PFAS chemicals. 
• Advance remediation and cleanup efforts where drinking water supplies are impacted by PFAS contamination.