The head of the U.S. Environment of the Senate committee, said Wednesday that lawmakers will hold hearings on toxic drinking water in schools in the nation after the probe from the Associated Press on the widespread problem.
California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer called the hearing to be held in Washington this year after an investigation by the AP revealed dangerous levels of lead, bacteria and pesticides have emerged in the water supply to thousands of schools.

In the last decade, the contaminants found in drinking water sources and pipes at the school in all 50 states in small towns and inner cities. But the problem has gone largely unchecked by the federal government, even though the number of water safety violations have multiplied.

Boxer, who chairs the Committee on Environment and Public Works, which oversees the Environmental Protection Agency, has used the issue as a priority and has asked EPA officials to explain the actions taken to protect children school from contaminated water.

An EPA spokesman did not immediately return calls or emails seeking comment.

Helpers Boxer and Sen. Benjamin Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, who heads a Senate subcommittee on Water, attended the hour and a half of information with senior EPA officials on Wednesday afternoon.

Among the topics discussed were inadequate record-keeping agency. The EPA only has authority to collect data on drinking water quality schools with wells, representing 8 to 11 percent of the nation’s schools.

In the past, EPA officials have said that schools with unsafe water a small percentage of the nation’s 132,500 public and private schools. They have also said the agency has no legal power to require all schools to test their water, and can only provide guidance on environmental practices.

EPA officials acknowledge the database of the agency of schools in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act is riddled with errors and omissions, however. The problem goes beyond the schools that use wells and schools in Baltimore, Seattle, Los Angeles and other big cities that draw water from public utilities have also shown the contamination.

Boxer attendees were to meet with agency officials in two weeks to discuss progress of the EPA and new legal authorities necessary to protect students from drinking toxic water, said Peter Rafle, communications director for Boxer.

The hearings will include problems of drinking water in schools and wider problems with oversight and enforcement, he said.

Related posts:

1. Welcome to Milwaukee, you bum
2. The Great Art Pitch: Educate the Parents on the Benefits of Art
3. An open letter to Del Mar Union School District parents
4. Learn why people throw coins into the Wishing Well
5. Detroit school audits find millions in waste