Albuquerque: Public can comment on fluoride proposal

Supporters and opponents of drinking water fluoridation will have an opportunity to sound off at a public meeting scheduled at 5:30 p.m. today at the African American Performing Arts Center at Expo New Mexico. The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority board is expected to vote April 23 on a measure that would require the […]

Fluoride Wars Resume—in ABQ

Meanwhile, Santa Fe fluoridates at a reduced level When city and county officials in Albuquerque met last week to discuss reinstating water fluoridation, the scene was one familiar to Santa Feans. Dozens of community members showed up to protest what they described as an unnecessary and potentially cancer-causing, IQ-lowering incursion on their liberty, while doctors […]

Dangers of fluoride are significant

A proposal by Maggie Hart Stebbins, a county commissioner and member of the Bernalillo County Water Board, to resume fluoridation of our municipal drinking water is scheduled for a final vote at a Water Utility meeting Wednesday. The reasoning behind the proposal is to safeguard the teeth of low-income children who have little or no […]

Fluoride may return to Albuquerque water

Albuquerque stopped adding fluoride to drinking water in 2011 but could resume the practice under a measure introduced this week to the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. The measure has champions among dental and child health professionals who say the mineral is vital for good oral health, especially for children. The measure, introduced Wednesday […]

New Mexico: Funds shortage delays uranium plant

International Isotopes Inc.’s construction of a first-of-its-kind depleted uranium deconversion plant just west of Hobbs will be delayed because of a shortage of funding for the $125 million project, the company acknowledged Friday. But the Idaho-based firm remains committed to building the facility, which is expected to employ 300 construction workers and create 130-150 permanent […]

EPA meeting to be held in Questa July 31

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public hearing in Questa, Wednesday (July 31) to receive comments on Chevron Mining’s draft permit to discharge into the Red River. The revised permit concerns water discharges from the Questa molybdenum mine and tailings facility. According to information from the EPA, the hearing will include a presentation […]

Santa Fe: Rivera joins fellow councilors in race for mayor

Former Santa Fe Fire Department Chief Chris Rivera became City Councilor Rivera last year, and now he wants to become Mayor Rivera. On Thursday, the 47-year-old father of four became the third sitting councilor to formally announce a candidacy for mayor in the 2014 city election. Rivera said in an interview that he sees himself […]

Our Water Quality: About Nambe’s high uranium levels

The Nambé area is well known for high uranium concentrations in private water wells, one of which was laboratory-tested to be about 60 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contamination level (MCL) of 30 parts per billion (ppb). If you read my previous column, I cited recent work that the uranium found in wells […]

Aztec approves continued water plant upgrade

Excerpts: The city of Aztec approved spending nearly $400,000 to update and automate its outdated water plant Tuesday evening. City commissioners approved funding for long overdue upgrades to one of the water plant’s four distinct water treatment “trains.” A train is a water treatment system, and all four are contained in a single building… Before […]

Albuquerque finds itself at the center of a national fluoride debate

Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s a city with spectacular views, a booming tourism industry, and a debate over fluoride. The city says it’s just following new CDC guidelines. Now, it finds itself in the middle of a national controversy. “It can become a very contentious issue, very emotional issue, but we’re trying to follow the science […]