Bellefontaine Neighbors Archives

EPA grant will help Missouri schools test for lead contamination in water

July 6, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Bipartisan legislation that’s aimed at providing protections for safe drinking water in Missouri schools has been signed into law by Governor Mike Parson.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed two pieces of legislation on July 2, 2020 in Tipton. One involved safe drinking water in schools, and the other involved rural broadband (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

One of the key provisions in House Bill 2120 is from veteran State Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, the former Senate Minority Leader. That provision allows Missouri schools to submit a test of potable water for lead content to labs approved by state health officials.

“Getting clean water in today’s times, what we’ve seen over time, really starting to focus on that,” Parson tells Capitol reporters in Jefferson City. “Water is just so essential to us. One is lifestyle, but everything we utilize has water involved in it.”

With the governor’s signature on Thursday at a Tipton ceremony, Missouri schools and the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) will be able to capitalize on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant of $719,000 that will assist with lead water testing in schools built before 1996.

“So I think passing that bill, making everybody draw a little attention to it and step up a little better to deliver that is a good thing,” says Parson.

Senator Walsh notes a review found numerous schools with elevated lead levels in water.

State Rep. Bill Kidd, R-Buckner, sponsored the House bill. Under it, each school district can test a sample of a source of water in buildings constructed before 1996. If the samples tested exceed the EPA standard, the school districts would need to notify parents of enrolled students.

The Missouri Senate approved the bill by a 25-4 vote, and the House passed it 108-34.

Bellefontaine Neighbors “hammered” by seven inches of rain; Missouri heat advisory remains (AUDIO)

August 12, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis says parts of north St. Louis County received more than six inches of rain and flooding early Monday morning. NWS hydrologist Mark Fuchs tells Missourinet far north county was “hammered” by rain.

“Folks in north County had upwards of over seven inches of rain, measured, in automated rain gauges up around Bellefontaine Neighbors and Glasgow Village,” Fuchs says.

The NWS issued numerous flash flood warnings across the St. Louis metropolitan area this morning.

“Just an incredible amount of water and quite a bit of flash flooding across north county,” says Fuchs.

Meantime, virtually all of Missouri remains under a heat advisory until 9 p.m. Monday. The heat index in Columbia and Jefferson City makes it feel like 107 degrees, and the heat index in southeast Missouri’s Poplar Bluff is about 110.

Fuchs tells Missourinet the heat has created a dangerous situation in which heat-related illnesses are possible.

“We’re looking at heat indices in parts of west-central Missouri, heat indices might exceed 110 degrees. And the same is true down in southeast Missouri,” Fuchs says.

You’re being urged to drink plenty of water and to avoid strenuous activity during the hottest part of the day.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with NWS hydrologist Mark Fuchs, which was recorded on August 12, 2019: