FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. — Many students in Frederick County had to adjust to a new status quo when they began the school year: dry drinking fountains.
The change stems from a concerning discovery by Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS): eight of their nine school buildings showed elevated levels of PFAS, or forever chemicals.
PFAS chemicals are usually found in many consumer products, but can pose a health risk if ingested.
The district’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Lebo, says the buildings are fed by nearby wells, the only water source for most of the buildings.
“Starting in the fall of 2025, two of our current schools that’re fed by wells will no longer be because they’ll be fed by a municipal water source, but the other ones don’t have an option in close proximity,” Lebo said.
The district began testing the drinking water in April, after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new federal regulations around acceptable PFAS chemical levels. Once the results came in, the district says it immediately got to work.
“Generally speaking, what we were able to do was shut off access to our drinking water for students and staff,” Lebo said.
In the meantime, the district is providing bottled water for students, and purified drinking water is available in water coolers.
The EPA standards don’t require compliance until 2029, but the school district says in situations like this, it’s better to be proactive.
“We want to provide the optimum learning environment, we want to provide safety and security for all of our students, and one of those things is providing safe, clean drinking water,” Lebo said. “We thought it was prudent to test as soon as possible, because we thought it would be better to know about a problem today instead of sitting and waiting for a couple of years.”
The school district says at this point, there’s no long-term solution, but it’ll be working alongside state and local agencies to figure out its next steps while there’s time before the new regulations go into effect.