Massachusetts Officials Announce Programs to Address Lead in Drinking Water at Schools and Child Care Facilities

Massachusetts Officials Announce Programs to Address Lead in Drinking Water at Schools and Child Care Facilities

Programs will offer free testing for lead in water fixtures and $5 million in grants for water bottle filling stations

BOSTON — In a continuing effort to ensure safe drinking water for children across the Commonwealth, the Baker-Polito Administration, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, and the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust have launched two programs to support lead testing and mitigation in schools and early education and care facilities across the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Department of Environment Protection’s (MassDEP) Expanded Assistance Program for Free Sampling and Analysis at Schools and Early Education and Care Facilities will continue the Commonwealth’s nation-leading program offering free lead testing and technical assistance to eligible public schools and public and private group child care facilities. In addition, the Clean Water Trust’s School Water Improvement Grant (SWIG) program will make available $5 million in grants to cover the cost of water bottle filling stations to address detections of lead in drinking water at eligible public schools. 

“Protecting the health and safety of all of the Commonwealth’s children is a top priority for our administration, which is why over the last three years we have provided free water sampling and technical assistance to almost a thousand schools across the Commonwealth,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “With these new programs, we are both continuing that assistance while building on it by helping schools and daycare facilities that have found unsafe lead levels address this serious issue.”

“As Chair of the Clean Water Trust, I am pleased to partner with MassDEP on this critical work,” said State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. “The School Water Improvement Grant program expands our testing efforts to protect the health and safety of children throughout the Commonwealth.”

“Our Administration is dedicated to working with school districts and child care facilities to ensure that all water supplied within Massachusetts schools remains clean, fresh and safe to consume,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “We are proud to now offer free water bottle filling stations to ensure students have access to clean water, and are grateful to the EPA for their grant which will help us continue to provide free lead sampling and technical assistance to the facilities that are educating and caring for our children.”

Under current federal and state laws, lead testing in schools is voluntary. Water supplied to schools is generally free of lead, but lead can be introduced into drinking water through plumbing and fixtures in buildings – especially in facilities more than 20 years old.

These two programs are designed to encourage education and care facilities to perform lead testing and address elevated levels with the help of state experts. MassDEP’s Expanded Assistance Program, funded through a $967,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will help eligible facilities implement effective testing programs, educate them about how to address elevated lead levels, including through the new SWIG program, and provide water quality information to the school community.

The Clean Water Trust’s SWIG program, funded through a $5 million appropriation from Governor Baker’s FY19 supplemental state budget, will provide grants to school districts that have tested their drinking water through the Commonwealth’s lead testing program or other comparable testing for water bottle filling stations. These filtered fixtures will be used to reduce the levels lead in school drinking water.  Grant awards will be calculated based on a per fixture award of $3,000. The number of fixtures will be based on the number of required fixtures to meet the Commonwealth’s Plumbing Code student to drinking fixture ratio of 75 students to one drinking water fixture.

“Our prior testing assistance programs supported the collection of almost 68,000 samples at 991 facilities, and we pleased to be able to help even more educational facilities test for lead in their drinking water,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. “With the new School Water Improvement Grant program, facilities have a great opportunity to apply for water bottle filling stations that can help address elevated levels.”

“We are committed to working closely with our local cities and towns to ensure that all students have access to safe and fresh water,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael J. Heffernan. “By offering these new programs and resources, we can identify and address instances of unsafe lead levels in drinking water and help even more schools and childcare facilities provide clean water to children.”

In 2016, Governor Charlie Baker and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg launched the Commonwealth’s Assistance Program for Lead in School Drinking Water, which provided schools and early education and childcare programs no-cost testing for lead in their facilities’ drinking water and guidance on remedial actions.

“Protecting children from exposure to lead is critically important to EPA,” said EPA Region 1 Administrator Dennis Deziel. “Through these new initiatives, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts once again has demonstrated why it’s a national leader in protecting children where they are most vulnerable.  EPA is proud to invest in and partner with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reduce lead in drinking water in schools and early education and care facilities. Every parent should take comfort in the Commonwealth’s pioneering programs to reduce childhood lead poisoning.”

“We are pleased to be able to further extend this technical assistance and water sampling program to allow even more schools, child care facilities, and parents to participate,” said MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg. “As all the test results will be available online, our expanded assistance program provides communities with the readily accessible and transparent information that they need to be fully informed about the water quality present in their child’s education and care environment.”

In addition to these resources, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) will continue to provide free laboratory testing to the school and early education and care facilities located in communities served by the MWRA.

“Children and lead are a dangerous combination,” said MWRA Executive Director Fred Laskey.  “It’s imperative that we continue to do everything we can to reduce exposure to lead from all sources. The programs we’re talking about here today will go a long way to further that goal.”

Both the Expanded Assistance Program and SWIG will be accepting applications for assistance online. The Expanded Assistance Program is accepting applications immediately and the SWIG Program will accept applications from February 3 to March 6, 2020.

“Access to clean drinking water is critical to a healthy and productive learning environment for every student in every school across Boston,” said Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools.  “Boston Public Schools is honored to have played a role in advocating for infrastructure and bottle refill station funding for schools, and to have influenced drinking water policy for public school systems through our invaluable partnership with MassDEP's Drinking Water Program.”

“Our aging water infrastructure increases the risk of lead in our drinking water, not just at home but also in our schools,” said State Senator Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton). “In conjunction with voluntary federal and state lead testing laws, it is great to see programs being put in place by the Baker-Polito Administration, Treasurer Goldberg, MA Clean Water Trust, and MassDEP to encourage more frequent lead testing in our schools with the help of state experts. It is important that we take advantage of the resources at the state-level to eliminate harmful toxins from our drinking water and mitigate any unnecessary risks to our youth.”

“I am extremely excited about the implementation of these programs to help schools find and address lead in their drinking water,” said State Representative Smitty Pignatelli (D-Lenox). “The children of Massachusetts deserve nothing less than the safest school experience, and these programs will serve as a wonderful complement to the work that we in the legislature are doing on this exact issue.”

“We have some of the oldest infrastructure in the nation and it is important that we provide access to programs such as this to encourage our schools to test its drinking water,” said State Representative James Kelcourse (R-Amesbury).

波士頓迎春揮毫迎鼠年

出席嘉賓們展示即席揮毫寫的字。右起，黃周麗桃，鄭慧民，蔣宗壬，歐宏偉，
John Rice，林卓培。

       (Boston Orange)波士頓華僑文教服務中心在1月11日以「波城數來寶  揮毫迎新春」為主題，和200多名出席僑胞，鄉親及嘉賓”舞文弄墨”的「揮毫迎新春」，欣賞、學習鼠年的春節應景拓印、剪紙，在異地他鄉營造出濃濃的農曆新年氣氛，享受溫馨快樂。

波士頓僑教中心主任歐宏偉致詞。

波士頓僑務委員蔣宗壬、牛頓市議員John Rice、紐英崙中華公所主席鄭慧民、紐英崙昭倫公所主席謝如鍵、新英格蘭大波士頓臺灣商會會長李以蕙、僑務促進委員陳玉瑛、麻州牛頓元極舞健身會會長鄭玉春、波士頓臺大校友會顧問吳杏玫以及璞石中華文化工作室會長馮文鸞，駐波士頓台北經濟文化辦事處科技組組長謝水龍等，當天有許多貴賓出席，與眾同樂，還”入鄉隨俗”的都執筆揮毫，恭喜拜年。

在嘉賓們書寫的”鼠年吉祥”，”新年快樂”，”春來了”之外，蔣宗壬寫的”世乃無常，唯德永恆”尤其寓意長遠，發人深省。

部分出席者展示所寫春聯及書畫作品。

波士頓僑教中心主任歐宏偉稱許中華書法會每年參與新春聯合揮毫活動，讓僑胞鄉親在海外過節，也能感受到濃濃年味。他更強調，各界僑胞的長期支持僑務工作，都也要再次表達敬意與謝意。

活動現場由僑教中心志工團佈置，年節氣氛十足。波士頓中華書法會會長黃周麗桃、林卓培應邀擔任當天的揮毫主筆，並邀得前任會長池元山，以及吳紹營、伍振中等書法家，在會場各據一方的即席揮毫，就著紅色宣紙，示範握筆揮灑，遊龍走鳳的寫出各種字體優美書法，不但讓出席的來賓，小朋友感受到寫春聯的樂趣，欣賞到正體中文之美，更體會了中文詩詞的優雅。

應歐宏偉之邀，當天再次參加”揮毫迎春”活動的民俗文化教師林賢琪，因應今年農曆生肖是鼠年，應景的在現場教做鼠年拓印版畫及剪紙，讓老中青三代同堂的僑務志工團隊及波士頓文化青年志工們，更深切感受到在世代交替中的文化傳承，紛紛表示參加這活動，很有意義。(圖片及文稿資料由波士頓僑教中心提供)

紐英崙養生舞協會慶九週年

紐英崙養生舞協會學員和嘉賓合影。

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED INVESTMENT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED INVESTMENT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

BOSTON - Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - Building on the Walsh Administration's commitment to create and preserve housing that meets the needs of a growing city, Mayor Martin J. Walsh pledged to dedicate $500 million over the next five years to create thousands of homes across Boston affordable to households with low and middle incomes tonight. These new investments will support the City's goals of creating rental and homeownership opportunities, preserving public housing units, and establishing the first city-funded voucher program.   "Housing is the biggest economic challenge our residents face," said Mayor Walsh. "We know we have been making progress, but rents and home prices are still too high for too many people. These investments are transformative and I invite housing advocates and residents to help us bring them to life. At a time when our federal government is stepping away from creating and preserving affordable housing, Boston is continuing to step up and make investments in housing because we believe housing is not a commodity, but our community."  Through increases in the City's operating and capital budgets, the investment announced tonight will double the City's current funding in affordable housing to $100 million. Additional revenue will be generated by selling the Lafayette Garage, as well as working with the Massachusetts Legislature to approve a transfer fee of up to 2 percent on private real estate sales over $2 million in the City of Boston. These combined investments will increase the available funds for affordable housing to five times current funding levels over the next five years. "We applaud Mayor Walsh for his leadership and commitment to affordable housing," said Rachel Heller, CEO of Citizens' Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA).  "By setting goals, creating a plan, tracking progress, and committing resources, the City is successfully creating more opportunities for people across incomes to have homes they can afford in the neighborhoods they choose." As the City continues to encourage using public transit, biking, and walking as preferred modes of transportation, Mayor Walsh identified the Lafayette Garage located at 1 Avenue de Lafayette in Downtown Boston as a means to generate additional funding for affordable housing. The proposal to sell the garage will be presented to the City Council in the coming months as a unique opportunity to turn a City asset into an immediate and impactful investment through one-time revenue from the sale.  These investments will support the City in achieving its housing goals:  Create and preserve 1,000 rental units, including senior housing production across all income levels, and expand the Acquisition Opportunity Program by targeting mid-size and large acquisitions and helping development partners compete with speculative buyers to prevent displacement Create 500 new homeownership units for low- and middle-income households and support 1,000 new low- and middle-income homebuyers with down payment assistance and low-interest mortgages  Create and preserve 3,000 units of public housing by providing subsidy funding to help fill the gap in Boston Housing Authority (BHA) pipeline projects, and renovate Boston's federal elderly/disabled portfolio to preserve this housing resource for future generations Establish the first City of Boston voucher program to provide hundreds of city-funded vouchers to those with the most need, including families experiencing homelessness not eligible for the State's Emergency Assistance, formerly chronically homeless individuals, and extremely low-income elderly and disabled households Create or accelerate the creation of 1,500 units by investing in large housing funds and developer capacity building, including: Provide critical seed funding to create a revolving, low-cost loan fund to support the acquisition of key vacant or underutilized properties for low- and middle-income housing, while seeking additional resources from businesses and foundations Establish an infrastructure fund to subsidize development costs in return for affordable units for low- and middle-income households Establish a fund for pre-development activity and support for local Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises In the coming months, the Walsh Administration will work with the City Council to complete the sale of the Lafayette Garage and to advocate for passage of the Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition signed and submitted to the Massachusetts Legislature last month. In addition, the Administration will be working with the City Council, the Mayor's Housing Task Force and other housing partners to refine the priorities and programmatic structures of these proposed investments.  "Mayor Walsh's aggressiveness in addressing our housing crisis is very much needed and much appreciated," said Thomas Callahan, executive director of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance. "MAHA looks forward to working with the Walsh Administration to put these targeted resources to good use, including closing the racial wealth gap through increased affordable homeownership opportunities for first-time and first-generation homebuyers in Boston."   Since Mayor Walsh took office, the City of Boston has built over 65 percent of the new homes in Greater Boston, with 20 percent of new homes being affordable housing, according to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Boston has surpassed 32,000 units permitted under the administration's housing plan, including over 6,200 affordable housing units and over 500 units for senior housing. More than 1,000 BHA units have been renovated and the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) has assisted over 600 homebuyers in purchasing their homes.  "Bravo to the Mayor for his leadership in closing the huge market gap that prevents older adults from having the opportunity to age in their community, which is the key to healthy aging," said Amy Schectman, president & CEO of 2Life Communities. "We look forward to working with the City to bring these opportunities to light for all older adults."    "Far too many older adults struggle to find the housing and services they need to age successfully at a price they can afford," said Linda Couch, vice president for Housing Policy, LeadingAge. "Our organization which is the nation's most trusted voice for aging with 6,000 mission-driven member organizations, is thrilled to learn about Mayor Walsh's proposals which represent a huge leap forward in making housing with services available to all older adults. Kudos to Boston's mayor for making older adults such a high priority."    Boston's strategy of increasing overall supply of housing units is beginning to show a stabilizing effect on the housing market. Year over year rental listing data from 2017 and 2018 in Boston shows rents increasing by 2.7 percent in older housing stock, and 3.3 percent in all housing, including newly-built stock.  Boston has been trending away from large year-over-year increases in rent costs for several quarters as development catches up with demand, creating more rental opportunities across the City. This trend continued in 2019: a year-over-year comparison of the first two quarters in 2018 and 2019 show rent prices incrementally increasing by 1.7 percent in older housing stock, with a 1.5 percent increase in all housing stock. "My wife and I work hard, but we didn't think we could afford a home to raise our three sons and take care of my in-laws," said Lamarana Bah, who immigrated 15 years ago from Sierra Leone. "Mayor Walsh's Neighborhood Homes Initiative helped us with our down payment and mortgage, and now we own our home in Dorchester. I want everyone to know about these opportunities. Our dream came true and that's why we believe in Boston."