RALEIGH, NC -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $964,000 in grant funding to assist North Carolina with identifying sources of lead in drinking water in schools or childcare facilities.
“Addressing childhood lead exposure from drinking water sources is a top EPA priority,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker. “EPA is proud to help North Carolina protect children and families from lead exposure and invest in thoughtful, preventative actions."
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health (DPH) will use the funds to support testing of drinking water in schools and child care programs, to ensure that children are not being exposed to lead in the water they consume. Additionally, DPH will communicate, train, test, and educate staff in facilities in high risk communities throughout the state.
“The EPA WIIN Grant provides a critical source of funding to test drinking water for lead in an estimated 4,400 licensed childcare centers statewide,” said DPH State Environmental Health Director Larry Michael. “Testing for and eliminating exposure to lead helps to ensure a safer early learning environment for the nearly a quarter of a million children that attend these centers.”
“We must do everything we can to provide North Carolina’s children a safe and healthy environment in which to learn,” said Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10). “The EPA WIIN Grant will help to ensure just that by providing the funds for testing drinking water in schools and childcare centers.”
“As a physician, I appreciate the EPA granting these federal dollars to benefit the health of children in my district and across the state of North Carolina,” said Congressman Greg Murphy (NC-03). “Children in eastern North Carolina will be better protected from the dangers of lead as a result.”
Under EPA’s new Voluntary Lead Testing in Schools and Child Care grant program, EPA has awarded $43.7 million in grants towards funding the implementation of testing for lead in drinking water. This funding creates or expands programs to test for lead in drinking water at schools and child care programs nationwide. EPA’s 3Ts (Training, Testing, and Taking Action) for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools will be used by grantees to assist schools in implementing lead in drinking water testing including identifying sources of lead such as drinking fountains.
