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 taking heed.

The city’s Public Enterprise Advisory Committee voted unanimously last week to have city staffers gather information from other U.S. cities that no longer fluoridate their water supplies after hearing from Brentwood resident and environmental researcher Dan Stockin. They also will find evidence to support fluoridation.

“I don’t think we can afford to be dismissive about this,” said Alderman Pam Lewis, after hearing from Stockin and state officials in favor of fluoridating water.

All 95 counties in Tennessee add fluoride to their water supplies. Franklin has been using it for decades, but Lewis says the city should find out more about whether the practice is safe.

Stockin, a researcher at The Lillie Center in Brentwood, questioned the long-standing practice of putting fluoride — specifically silica fluoride — into public water supplies because he believes the cavity-fighting chemical has not been sufficiently researched, is unsafe and is dangerous to the public.

Harpeth Valley Utilities District, which supplies most of the water to Williamson County, adds fluoride to its water according to state guidelines, President John Brown said.

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