CHICAGO — Elementary schools in Brighton Park and Albany Park have tested positive for dangerous levels of lead, bringing the number of schools with lead issues to 26, according to CPS.
Columbia Explorers Academy, 4520 S. Kedzie Ave. in Brighton Park, and Hibbard Elementary, 3422 W. Ainslie St. in Albany Park have lead levels in drinking water that exceed the federal government's action level, CPS said in a statement Friday.
RELATED: Outraged Aldermen Want Hearings About The Lead In CPS Drinking Water
Columbia had one of its sinks test positive for lead, while Hibbard had two sinks test positive, CPS said.
The news comes two days after the district announced that Tonti Elementary in Gage Park had become the 24th public school to have lead issues.
CPS is working to test all 324 schools built before 1986 by the end of the school year. As of June 14, the district had tested 79 schools.
Though nearly one-third of tested schools have shown high levels of lead, the overwhelming majority of the water lines in the schools are safe, CPS said.
The district has tested 1,112 water fixtures in the 79 schools, and 48 of the fixtures had at least one sample with a lead level above the Environmental Protection Agency's action level. That equates to 4.3 percent of fixtures having a lead issue.
City leaders are still working to address the issue, as aldermen have called for hearings on the subject.
CPS said on Tuesday that it would hold a series of community meetings on lead in schools. Meeting dates and locations can be found here.
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