Leesburg commissioners voted to end the city’s fluoride injection project during the commission meeting Monday night.
City Manager Al Minner had recommended that the commission terminate the fluoride injection project. Minner’s recommendation was based on the likelihood that the proposed Florida Senate Bill 700 will be passed into law. SB 70, if passed, would ban the injection of any additives into public drinking water that do not purify water.
Minner told the commissioners that the city’s lobbyist in Tallahassee had made it seem likely that the law will pass. He also said “similar orders may come from the Federal government with the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.”
The commission had voted in January 2024, to spend $80,590 to fund the design of a water fluoride injection system. At the May 28 commission meeting, commissioners approved the expenditure of $517,697 to create the system. Ending the program before the system was completed would save the city about $200,000 in further expenditures to finish the project, according to Minner. He also noted that $100,000 in new equipment purchased for the fluoride system would be repurposed for use in the city’s present water treatment plant.
When the Leesburg commissioners decided to go ahead with the fluoride project, they had the benefit of hearing from several local dentists and experts on the benefits of fluoride. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had also recommended the use of fluoride indicating that it benefits a community by preventing cavities and saving on dental care. The CDC also has stated that studies have shown that consuming fluoridated water at current recommended levels should not cause health problems.
Several area residents who are opposed to fluoridation have spoken out against the project at virtually every commission meeting since the project was proposed and were pleased to see it ended. Commissioners Mike Pederson and Allyson Berry expressed disappointment that the project would not go forward as the residents would benefit from the project based on the evidence provided by local dentists. They blamed the changing political climate for forcing the city to end the project.
The only vote cast in favor of continuing the project was cast by Commissioner Jimmy Burry who had been mayor when the project had been approved . He said this bill (SB 700)was an “example of the city’s rights being taken away by those in Tallahassee.”
Original article online at: https://www.leesburg-news.com/2025/02/25/leesburg-commissioners-blame-political-climate-for-death-of-fluoridation-project/