The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded $1,087,000 to United South and Eastern Tribes Inc. (USET) to help identify sources of lead in drinking water in schools or childcare facilities.
USET’s funding was awarded under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act for states, territories, and Tribal nations to test for lead in schools and childcare facilities.
USET is a non-profit, inter-tribal organization comprised of 33 federally recognized Tribal Nations from the Northeastern Woodlands to the Everglades and across the Gulf of Mexico. The funding will help protect children and advance the federal action plan to reduce childhood lead exposures.
“Protecting children’s health is one of the most important aspects of EPA’s mission, and we could not fulfill this mission without the instrumental partnerships with our states and tribes,” said Acting Regional Administrator David Gray. “As part of Lead Poisoning Prevention Week and Children’s Health Month, EPA is excited to announce the WIIN grants to help reduce lead in school drinking waters and protect children where they learn and play.”
"Children are precious and are the future of our people, carrying with them the prayers and hopes of seven generations. Their safety and well-being are paramount to our continued perseverance as a people,” said Chief Kirk Francis, Penobscot Nation, President of United South and Eastern Tribes. “Accordingly, we are committed to support our USET member Tribal nations to eliminate lead exposure from all sources, considering that there is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe.”
EPA noted in its announcement that children can be more vulnerable to pollutants than adults, which can lead to greater exposure and/or unique windows of susceptibility during development. This is especially true of lead—an exposure that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child. In fetuses, infants and children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells. Lead in drinking water is one of the main ways children can be exposed to lead.
