Environmental lawyers and concerned citizens are sounding the alarm over alarming levels of lead found in drinking water at schools across Ottawa. A recent study found some shocking findings. Over 50% of all water tests over the past four years (2019-2023) in at least 44 schools across the Ottawa region tested over the federal safety threshold for lead. This growing public outcry has led to calls for urgent action from local and provincial governments.
The Ministry of Education has come under a spotlight. It oversees the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and the Toronto District School Board, all of which were placed under provincial control last month due to alleged deficits. The province has been clear that there must be strong leadership and discipline regarding financial management and public accountability. This need comes from an anticipated funding deficit of $12.7 billion in the next ten years.
Health Risks and Community Concerns
Lead contamination can cause severe health problems for students. This is particularly troubling in places where we have yet to meet the highest standards for water quality. It’s public knowledge that Ottawa’s schools and daycares are currently suffering from the worst lead levels in the entire province. The new law changed that, causing huge outcry from parents and health advocates. The current federal safety limit for lead in drinking water is 5 ppb. By comparison, Ontario’s lead health-based guideline is 10 ppb, an order of magnitude higher.
Chandra Pasma, an environmental advocate and former U.S.
“We’re in this situation now where parents who know can take steps to protect their kids,” – Chandra Pasma
She said, the larger problem is that most parents don’t know enough about the dangers.
“Other parents I’m sure would, but they don’t know,” – Chandra Pasma
This lack of awareness is further exacerbated by poor school board communications. Trustee Matias de Dovitiis said taking an ad hoc approach to addressing parents’ concerns isn’t going to cut it.
“We received instructions not to respond directly to parents or communicate with staff,” – Matias de Dovitiis
Additionally, he condemned the failure of industry leaders to articulate how to solve this urgent challenge.
“There has yet to be clear communications from the supervisor directly to us as trustees in terms of what we do for any issue, and never mind any specific issue,” – Matias de Dovitiis
Provincial Oversight and Proposed Solutions
The provincial government’s action was taken in the wake of growing alarms over lead poisoning in a number of boards. The Ministry now manages a total of six boards. These boards continued to report the most lead exceedances in the province for the 2023/24 school year. This led environmental attorneys to call for immediate action, calling on the government to take immediate steps to reduce health risks.
Pasma suggested providing filters on each drinking water tap. This targeted approach would likely be more effective and less expensive than redoing all the infrastructure.
“Providing filters for every tap used for drinking water is significantly less costly and less time consuming than replacing all of the infrastructure,” – Chandra Pasma
These actions would provide targeted, short-term assistance to schools dealing with dangerous levels of contamination as we work toward more permanent answers.
While the OCDSB is focused on safety. As per provincial legislation, they will remove and remediate any fixture found to be above provincial lead standards.
“Any fixture exceeding provincial lead standards is immediately taken out of service and remediated. We follow all provincial regulations to ensure these locations are safe before re-opening them for consumption,” – Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
The Need for Accountability
School boards and provincial authorities are under immense and intensifying pressure. A wide range of stakeholders are coming together to demand more accountability and transparency to address the dangerous lead contamination crisis. IJB’s recent investigation of the matter has raised a tremendous public outcry at how the situation has been managed to this point.
Pasma lambasted lax standards for lead in drinking water. They claimed that these standards do not reflect the best available science.
“They won’t even acknowledge that the standard for lead in drinking water in Ontario is not based on best science,” – Chandra Pasma
The demand for reform resonates throughout the community as parents seek assurance that their children are protected from potential health hazards.
