Community Voices: Acknowledging the Hawaii State Department of Health and Department of Education's Efforts to Remove Sources of Lead in Hawaii Communities

By Anthony Ross

Hello friends at the APA Hawaii Chapter. Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to your newsletter, a publication that continues to add meaningful value for readers. We want to recognize efforts to protect public health in Hawaii communities by removing sources of lead.

WIIN Fixture Replacement Project

We want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Hawaii State Department of Education, Hawaii State Department of Health, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to find, test, and remove sources of lead in public schools. The Department of Education and Department of Health collaborated with local educational agencies to conduct lead in drinking water testing at public schools and childcare facilities. These efforts involved:

• During 2021, lead in drinking water testing was conducted at 113 childcare facilities and 106 elementary schools.
• In 2022, lead in drinking water testing was performed at an additional 72 elementary schools.
• Current efforts are being focused on removing all fixtures where lead sampling results were 5 parts per billion (ppb) or greater.
• In 2020, EPA provided a Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nations Act (WIIN) grant to support this effort. WIIN funding provides support to states to help them assist local schools and childcare facilities to voluntarily test for lead contamination in drinking water.

We encourage everyone to track the status of this important effort by visiting the WIIN Fixture Replacement Project interactive mapping tool.

Service Line Inventories

We also want to acknowledge the Department of Health´s efforts to ensure that the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions are being implemented, and public water systems develop service line inventories to confirm the composition of service line materials in communities. This will ensure that proper sampling and targeting of sources for removal takes place.

Thank you

We want to thank you for your endless desire, hard work, and dedication to collaborate and work together to improve the quality of drinking water, improve the quality of life for Hawaii residents, and protect public health in Hawaii communities. Although we face very challenging times, we know that you will rise to the challenges of today and tomorrow.

We want to give special recognition to the United States EPA, Hawaii State Department of Health, Hawaii State Department of Education, local public water systems, local educational agencies, and of course the people living in the communities that make it all possible. Your efforts are truly appreciated.

Working together is the most powerful solution to all our problems.

Sincerely,

Anthony Ross
Director
Environmental & Public Health International

How many lead service lines are there in the United States?

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, there are an estimated 9.2 million lead service lines serving water to communities throughout the country. The total cost of replacing all lead service lines in the United States may exceed $100 billion.

The views discussed in this article are those of the contributing author and do not reflect those of the APA Hawai‘i Chapter.