News Archive

A 60-year-old debate about whether to add cavity-fighting fluoride to cities’ water supplies is boiling over in Franklin. Weeks after the city’s water director resigned amid allegations of poor record-keeping and other infractions, town leaders are hearing from a local anti-fluoride activist who says they ought to focus on what’s in the water. And they’re […]

A letter explaining the South Blount Utility District’s decision not to fluoridate is not what the board asked for when it spent $2,400 on a study of the pros and cons of fluoridation earlier this year, one district customer complained Tuesday. “This board approved an educational outreach, and two sentences about the pros and cons […]

Not fluoridating its water supports South Blount Utility District’s mission of providing the “safest, cleanest and purest” water to its customers, a study found. Gary McGill of McGill Associates presented to the board Tuesday the findings of his firm’s fluoride literature review and a draft of a “mailer” that could be sent to the district’s […]

Janet Lail’s husband calls her a “water junkie.” Of course, she is married to the district manager of the South Blount Utility District. “My water cup is my constant companion,” she laughed, hoisting the yellow jug into the air. “The first thing I do in the morning is fix my water. I drink water all […]

MARYVILLE – A staunch proponent of restoring fluoride to water provided by the South Blount County Utility District says he will be “changing tactics” in his battle. T-Rex Ogle Jr., a Maryville computer programmer who has been at the forefront of the pro-fluoride fight, said at Tuesday’s meeting of the South Blount board that he […]

Months after the construction of a new state-of-the-art treatment plant, board officers for the South Blount Utility District still wrestle with the issue of fluoridating the system’s water. At the district’s Tuesday board meeting, board officers asked an engineering company, now working with the district on a grant for water lines, to put together a […]

The debate over fluoridation continued Wednesday at South Blount Utility District’s monthly board of commissioners meeting. The district’s decision not to fluoridate water at its new plant, completed this year, has drawn staunch support and opposition from customers. Both sides made an appearance at the meeting Wednesday. Commissioners decided to continue collecting information on fluoridation, […]

MARYVILLE – The Internet has become the newest battleground in the controversy over the South Blount County Utility District’s decision to remove fluoride from the water the organization provides its 13,000 customers. Mike Biddle, who runs his own Web hosting and site design service, entered the fray during the weekend, bringing online a site dedicated […]

To add or not to add that’s the question in one East Tennessee community, as the debate concerning whether or not fluoride should be in the water continues. The South Blount County Utility District used to buy its water from other districts which added fluoride. But it decided to leave fluoride out when it started […]

MARYVILLE – Officials of Blount County’s Community Health Initiative are calling on customers served by the South Blount County Utility District to express their views about the district’s decision to eliminate fluoride from the water it delivers. Laura Harrill, director of community outreach for Blount Memorial Hospital and facilitator of the health initiative, said the […]