Fluoridation schemes proposed for Polk County (‘Phosphate Country’)

DAVENPORT – Davenport council members are about a year away from considering whether to fluoride at their expanded water plant. But the issue will be on Four Corners officials faster than they expect. Polk County this spring received Southwest Florida Water Management District approval to bump up Northeast water production to 6.05 million gallons a […]

Pinellas County starts fluoridating water

CLEARWATER – Most Pinellas County residents can expect something new in the water today. That’s when the county begins adding fluoride to its water supply, ending decades of resistance against one of the most recognized trends in preventing tooth decay. Commissioners voted 6-1 in August in favor of fluoridating water that serves more than 600,000 […]

Fluoride About To Flow in Pinellas

CLEARWATER – After years of on-again, off-again discussion and debate, Pinellas County will begin fluoridating its water supply on Monday, ending its status as the largest water system in the eastern United States devoid of the cavity- fighting additive. The move is lauded by county health officials and other medical professionals as a long-awaited and […]

Medical Mystery

PLANT CITY – The old gray buildings on the edge of town are a grim specter, heavy and forbidding like the fear that has enveloped this rural community. Something seems wrong here. People say they can feel it in their aching joints, their cracking bones and teeth. To some, the fear is as tangible as […]

Coronet Plant sued by nearly 700 residents, employees

PLANT CITY, Fla. – Nearly 700 residents and employees who have lived near or worked for Coronet Industries have sued the troubled phosphate plant. The lawsuit was filed Thursday by three law firms. It is the second in six months against Coronet, which is closing the 98-year-old plant this month. The suit charges the phosphate […]

Pasco County considers fluoridation

When he used to practice dentistry in New Jersey, Dr. Jay Nelson considered it unusual to spot a cavity, even in the mouths of candy-gobbling kids. “We were almost wondering what we’d do in a few years there were so few cavities,” the Land O’Lakes dentist said. He need not have worried. By the time […]

Palm Beach Co. forges ahead on fluoridation

Rejecting pleas for delay, the Palm Beach County Commission on Tuesday declared again its intention to fluoridate the county water system. But the issue will receive another airing before the fluoride switch is flipped on. The 5-2 vote means the Water Utilities Department will seek bids within a month on a range of improvements to […]

Contamination Might Make Coronet Property Unusable

PLANT CITY – Part of the Coronet Industries site might be so contaminated that it might not be safe for future use, the county’s top environmental regulator said. Testing will determine whether the holding ponds and the phosphate processing factory can be cleaned up enough, said Rick Garrity, director of Hillsborough County’s Environmental Protection Commission. […]

Fluoridation to begin in phosphate capital

BARTOW – The city is nearly ready to begin fluoridating its water. The fluoridation system is in and testing has gone without a hitch, said Ron Johnson, supervisor of the city’s water plant. The next step calls for the city to notify everyone on the water system about the change, which will take place during […]

Fluoride Omitted from Soil Testing Near Coronet

PLANT CITY – Soil tests in the vicinity of Coronet Industries have uncovered no unsafe levels of nearly a dozen pollutants, environmental officials announced Monday. The soil was tested for 11 inorganic compounds, including arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and boron. The levels detected were above what would be considered naturally occurring in Florida’s soil, but […]