How Far Will Montana’s Push to Remove Lead from School Drinking Water Go?_我的网站
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By Keely Larson | KFF Health News
But even with these two new pools of money intended to last two years, the state’s schools may struggle to remove all but the most dangerous sources of lead, considering about half the schools that tested their water between July 2020 and February 2022 found high lead levels. Medical experts say no amount of lead is safe to ingest.
“When you start replacing faucets and drinking fountains in the hundreds of schools that we have in Montana, that gets eaten up pretty quickly,” said Democratic state Rep. Paul Tuss, who added the state funding to an infrastructure bill passed this spring.
If the total were divided evenly among the approximately 590 schools that need to meet the state’s new lead testing rules, each school would receive less than $8,000 from the state to test and upgrade its faucets, pipes and water fountains. The state already knows that 110 schools have had at least one water fixture with lead levels of 15 parts per billion or higher, three times the level that requires action under Montana rules.
Most schools with lead levels over the state limit could address their “exceedances” with the state money, according to state Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Moira Davin. “Our plan is to address as many schools as possible with this funding,” she said.
But part of the challenge for Montana is that it doesn’t yet know how extensive a problem its schools have. More than a fifth of the state’s schools facing the new rules — 129 facilities — hadn’t completed any sampling as of Aug. 3, said Greg Montgomery, the director of the department’s Lead in Schools program. And replacing a single school’s pipes can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We are not talking about solving the whole problem here,” said Levin, who worked on lead exposure during her nearly 40 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Lead is particularly harmful to children and can lead to brain and nervous system damage and slowed development and growth. It typically gets into drinking water in schools through piping or fixtures. A 2020 state rule requires schools to test water supplies every three years. If lead concentrations surpass 5 parts per billion, fixtures must be addressed — and shut off if higher than 15 ppb.
Jessica Reyes, an economics professor at Amherst College, said prioritizing fountains or pipes with high lead levels after a “first draw” test could help a lot. The test measures lead in water the first time a faucet is turned on for the day, after the water’s been sitting in a pipe all night. That sample provides the best data to pinpoint the greatest risks, she said.
Running all faucets for a few minutes before kids get to school is quite protective for kids, Reyes added, because the quantity of lead diminishes as the water runs. But Reyes likes to imagine a kindergartner who gets to school early for free breakfast and drinks from a water fountain before anyone in the building clears the pipes.
“Everything kids need to grow — lead is the opposite of those,” Reyes said.
Montana officials will decide how to distribute the money from the legislature, reimbursing schools for costs such as installing new faucets, water filters, plumbing and water bottle filling stations. The federal grant, meanwhile, will be used for covering costs related to testing, Montgomery said.
Schools will have to participate in the state’s Lead in Schools program by sampling their drinking water to get any of the state funding, he said, and they won’t be able to use the money on projects completed before the state bill was signed into law.
Montgomery said the amount available to schools would depend on whether they have any fixtures over the “action level,” or fixtures with lead concentrations over 5 ppb. Funding will be prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis, he said.
Even if a school doesn’t have high samples of lead in its test results, Montgomery said, it could seek money to install water bottle filling stations with filters. Schools could also use the money for larger projects such as replacing piping, but, Montgomery said, the state will set a limit on how much each school can get. And, he said, it’s unlikely the money will be able to cover something like a $100,000 pipe replacement project.
The goal is to make money available to all schools, regardless of size, and ensure a couple of schools aren’t “gobbling” the entire amount, Montgomery said. That means schools with extensive issues will likely need to pick which areas to fix.
“We want to make sure the small schools have equal footing as the large schools,” Montgomery said.
Many Montana schools have already launched remediation projects after receiving high lead results.
One sink at Skyview High School in Billings had one of the highest levels of lead detected in schools across the state. Scott Reiter, the executive director of facilities for Billings Public Schools, said the sink was in a control room in the auditorium and people rarely used it. After the results came in, the fixture was removed to make the sink unusable.
On a larger scale, he said, all cold-water piping for drinking and sinks was replaced at Rimrock Learning Center in Billings last summer. Reiter said the school had been remodeled and all fixtures replaced about five years ago, so when lead was detected all over the school, it was clear it wasn’t just one fixture.
“We knew that it had to be in the lines,” Reiter said.
Reiter said the school district used leftover money from a 2013 elementary school district bond to replace Rimrock’s pipes, which he estimated cost $100,000.
While Reiter said he was disappointed costs from the Rimrock pipe replacements and other projects that have already happened couldn’t be reimbursed retroactively, he welcomed the state’s additional funding. “Any help to the schools for something like this is great,” he said.
The Great Falls Public Schools district also exemplifies how extensive and expensive such work can be. The district used $19,511 from an earlier $40,000 state allocation for drinking fountains, water bottle fillers and filters across schools in the district, said Brian Patrick, its director of business services and operations. He said the district also got 783 tests covered by the state, each costing $25.
His district used a bond passed in 2017 to fund a pipe replacement at Lewis and Clark Elementary School, where 23 tests came in at 5 ppb or higher. The pipes were replaced last summer, Patrick said, costing $411,252.
“It doesn’t get fixed in one fell swoop,” Patrick said.
This article was produced by KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF. It has been published with permission.
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二 | Ahead of director Priyadarshan nearing the remarkable milestone of 100 films, Filmfare's Editor-in-Chief Jitesh Pillaai reflects on the filmmaker’s unmatched legacy, especially in Malayalam cinema and why the maestro deserves to be celebrated much more.
In his words:
Kilometers of Laughter: A Journey Through Priyan’s World
He is on his century—that is 100 films old. I think he is currently batting on 99. Inching close to seventy years of age, Director Priyadarshan has celebrated enough. He should be toasted for his style and his Malayalam body of work. Cine goers of a certain vintage remember him for his sharp comedies, including his debut Poochakkoru Mookkuthi. He paid tribute to Sai Paranjpye with Odaruthammava Aalariyam (inspired by Chashme Buddoor) and Mukunthetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu. He rehashed several Malayalam films like Ramji Rao Speaking, Kireedam, and Punjabi House to give us a slew of Hindi bonanzas like Hungama, Hulchul, Gardish, and of course, the rib-tickling Hera Pheri.
Priyadarshan brought spit and polish to Malayalam movies with technical marvels like Kaalapani and Kanchivaram. The team of Mohanlal and Priyadarshan gave us a slew of classics: Kinnararam, Kilukkam, Thenmavin Kombath, Chandralekha, and Mithunam. Films like Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu, Kilukkam, and Thenmavin Kombath reach "iconic" status with every passing year.
What makes the familiar and time-tested Priyadarshan tropes so warm and all-embracing? He gave comedy a mad, zany world appeal. He humanised comedians and gave them an afterlife. Whether it was Vellanakalude Nadu or Adwaitham, Priyadarshan showed us life’s foibles; he showed us how a unique strength lies within our dysfunctional families and their frailties. With a master craftsman like Mohanlal helming his ventures, you could not go wrong.
You may recall the Priyadarshan of Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Bhagam Bhag, but he is more than all of that. He redefined comedy and rewrote the rules of drama. He mocked filmmakers ever so gently and turned the rules of filmmaking topsy-turvy. Watch that one scene in Boeing Boeing where a three-timing Mohanlal is trying to hide his three girlfriends in different rooms; it is a hoot. That scene was later re-enacted in Garam Masala by John Abraham and Akshay Kumar.
To reduce Priyadarshan’s oeuvre to just comedy is to diminish his legacy. One of my favourite films of his, Dheem Tharikida Thom, about a run-down drama troupe, is a classic. As are Punnaram Cholli Cholli and Thalavattam. Like all great filmmakers, Priyadarshan harnessed the best out of Santosh Sivan, Sabu Cyril, and S. Kumar, alongside his band of wonderful ensemble actors: Nedumudi Venu, KPAC Lalitha, Innocent, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, and Mamukkoya. You have to watch Mithunam to realise his legerdemain and absolute control of his craft.
It would be a pity if Priyadarshan is cited only for his Bollywood outpourings. What he gave to Malayalam cinema was clout, longevity, charisma, and unabashed storytelling. I have lost count of the times I have watched Kilukkam, Vandanam, Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu, and Poochakkoru Mookkuthi. He makes the absurd believable and the impossible look real.
Priyadarshan is a part of our Malayalam movie memories and our rites of passage. If we cut our milk teeth on Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, we came of age with Vandanam and Kaalapani. I assure you, well into our dotage, we will still be chuckling at the "kilometers and kilometers" joke from Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu. Like Priyadarshan and his movies, we grew up at the turnstiles. His music and his shot-taking changed the lexicon of how Malayalam film songs are picturized. We still sway to Doore Kizhakudikkum, Ambalappuzhe, and Ende Manassil Oru Naanam.
Priyadarshan is not celebrated enough, which is a pity because it means we do not celebrate our wonder years enough. You may go and enjoy Bhooth Bangla in theatres soon, while I will yet again rewind to the mad world of Vandanam and Boeing Boeing. Priyadarshan’s gift to the movies is that he made us all believe in magic and the fanciful, and he never let us grow up.
Also Read: Bhooth Bangla: Priyadarshan Openly Discusses The Age-gap Between Akshay Kumar and Wamiqa Gabbi。
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