Parents of children in Fallon, Nev., now have peace of mind regarding the water their children drink at school.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., joined Churchill County leaders at Northside Elementary School Monday to help distribute bottled water to the students.
Reid and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., helped secure $100,000 in federal funding this year to provide the bottled water after the public water supply was found to contain high levels of arsenic.
Officials in Fallon are in the process of building a new water treatment facility to address the arsenic found at up to ten times the legal federal level.
Reid said the funds came at the request of former Fallon Assemblywoman Marcia deBraga; members of the parents group, Families in Search of Truth (FIST); and other concerned parents.
Parents of the 16 Fallon-area children who have been diagnosed with leukemia since 1997 formed FIST after a federal health study this year was unable to determine the cause of the cancer cluster.
Scientists said arsenic is not linked to leukemia, but it causes other cancers and illnesses. They said children's exposure to arsenic, which also weakens human immune systems, should be reduced as soon as possible.
Source: The Associated Press
