The Englishtown Mayor and Council discussed how to oppose the newly proposed state legislation that would require flouride in all public community water systems in New Jersey at their workshop meeting last week.

The NJ Senate Bill, entitled the “New Jersey Public Water Supply Fluoridation Act”, and it’s companion Assembly Bill are currently being considered for approval by the state. If passed, Englishtown taxpayers would have to pay for the fluoridation of their water and the Borough would have to deal with hazmat issues as flouride is a toxic waste by-product.

Due to the fact that Englishtown has it’s own municipal water authority, Mayor Tom Reynolds questioned whether the Borough would be able to handle the burden of another unfunded mandate.

Councilman Gregory Wojyn said that Karen Alexander of the New Jersey Utilities Association stated that water companies say that the upfront cost to purchase and install the equipment which will introduce flouride into the system cost between $400,000 to over $64 million, depending on the size of the system.

Councilwoman and Chairperson of the Public Utilities Committee Maryanne Krawiec suggested that the council pass a resolution and send it to Gov. Chris Christie voicing the Borough’s concern.

Reynolds advised Krawiec to reach out to other small municipalities that pump their own water and are in opposition to this legislation to create a joint resolution to send to the governor, which the Council decided to do.

Besides the cost of installing the equipment, the council and mayor are worried about transport, waste issues, and the danger of dealing with the hazardous material.

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