Children exposed to dangerous levels of lead at federal daycare centers

Children in federal government child care centers were exposed to high levels of lead and copper after the pandemic shutdowns because officials rushed to reopen buildings without flushing their water systems, an inspector general’s report shows.

A child care center in Seattle had lead levels 14 times higher than what was considered critical. A center in Atlanta had six times the critical level of lead, and employees ended up taping off the drinking fountains to protect the children in their charge.

Judges in some federal courthouses refused to allow water testing, saying they didn’t want people poking around their chambers.

In the District of Columbia, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center faced an elevated risk of spawning Legionnaires’ disease. The contractor refused to set its water heater at the recommended 140 degrees because doing so would violate the agreement’s energy savings targets.

The findings, revealed in a report Monday, dealt the latest black eye in the federal response to the pandemic.

After buildings closed, water stagnated and contaminants rose to dangerous levels, the inspector general said. When the buildings were reopened, the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service often failed to meet its own rules for testing and flushing the water systems.

Problems were particularly troubling for buildings where child care centers operated.

“GSA closed the majority of its child care centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, PBS did not test the water in many of these centers for months or years after reopening them,” the inspector general said. “Once performed, tests identified hazardous levels of lead and copper in outlets at some GSA child care centers.”

Last year, Legionella, the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia, was found in the water supplies of some federal buildings. Investigators again blamed water stagnation in pipes.

The inspector general found at least two cases of Legionnaires’ disease that were connected to federal buildings.

Investigators indicated that the water quality issues go beyond the government reopenings.

At the Reagan Building, a massive edifice blocks from the White House, the contractor refused to increase the water temperature to 140 degrees, the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to kill Legionella. Instead, the heater was set 20 to 25 degrees lower.

“According to the [operation and maintenance] contractor, water temperature is set according to the energy efficiency requirements in its contract,” the inspector general said.

GSA, noting the risk of an inspector general audit, warned the contractor in an email that the water system needed to be flushed.

The contractor didn’t budge, saying it was impossible to flush most of the building’s faucets without disassembling the system. In November 2022, after faucets in one part of the building turned colors and developed an odor, the systems were flushed.

GSA didn’t respond to an inquiry for this article, but the agency said in an official response to the inspector general that it had taken action and now has an “industry-leading water quality management initiative.”

“This program goes beyond regulatory mandates to ensure workplace health and safety and addresses the drinking water quality concerns identified in the audit,” said Elliot Doomes, the public buildings commissioner.

The pandemic caught the government flat-footed, and GSA had to write rules on how to reopen buildings after extended vacancies. Those included checking the water temperature and chlorine levels and flushing the plumbing systems.

GSA didn’t follow through with contractors, and Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, expressed outrage over the findings.

“Stagnant, hazardous water in an empty federal building paints the perfect image of our bloated bureaucracy,” she said.

Ms. Ernst has been prodding the government over its reopenings. Last year, she highlighted the staggeringly low occupancy rates at dozens of federal agency headquarters in Washington. This year, she revealed that employees were collecting higher Washington-area pay while teleworking from regions with lower costs of living.

“Kids in daycare centers are drinking unsafe water in abandoned buildings because bureaucrats are taking bubble baths at home instead of showing up to work,” Ms. Ernst said.

Inspector general investigators heard several excuses for the water system problems.

In one courthouse, authorities “detained” a contractor who tried to enter a judge’s chambers to test the water. Another courthouse said it didn’t have enough in-person staff to assign an escort to the water testers.

Some water outlets were not tested at other buildings because of standardized pricing.

Contractors’ handling of water in child care centers was particularly troubling.

In Seattle, the Park Place Building’s child care center was reopened on June 25, 2022, but the water wasn’t tested until more than two years later. When it was tested, the lead level in a children’s sink was 14 times higher than the “action level” set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Even after the testing, the sink remained in use for two months while the GSA awaited the results.

The inspector general found similar problems at federal building child care centers in Atlanta and in Austin, Texas.

“In sum, PBS did not follow its water outlet testing requirements for GSA child care centers. As a result, PBS placed children and employees in the child care centers at risk of exposure to elevated levels of lead and copper,” the audit concluded.