Ridgeland will consider removing fluoride from its drinking water.
City officials will enter a process with the Mississippi State Department of Health to see if the city will continue to treat drinking water with fluoride.
According to Public Works Director Alan Hart, this first step involves MDHS officials giving a 20-minute presentation to the city board, followed by a question-and-answer period for city officials.
“This meeting provides the board with scientific, operational, and financial information related to fluoridation and is required before any further steps may be taken in the formal discontinuation process,” Hart said.
Aldermen unanimously gave Hart approval to start the process at the Tuesday, Dec. 2, regular meeting at City Hall.
“This action does not discontinue fluoridation, nor does it commit the City to a final decision; it simply begins the state-mandated review process,” Hart said. “We will be able to review the pros and cons throughout this process in order for you to be able to make an informed decision.”
Hart said he hoped the city would hear back from MDHS at the beginning of next year. Hart said he wants the process to be thorough and open and would likely include a public hearing in the future.
MDHS says fluoride is added to public sources of drinking water to prevent tooth decay.
Mayor Gene F. McGee said he looked forward to beginning the process.
“We want to listen to both sides and get to the bottom of this,” McGee said.
Hart and McGee said fluoride became difficult to procure due to complications related to the shutdowns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and the city has not been able to treat the city water supply with fluoride for about three years now. McGee said he knows Ridgeland is not the only city in the area that has had an issue procuring the chemical.
McGee said the city is still having an issue procuring the chemical, and part of this fact-finding mission is looking at the cost of getting back to administering the chemical as it becomes available.
If the city decides to continue treating its water with fluoride, McGee said their system will need $200,000 in upgrades. He said the city would also face an additional yearly cost of implementing the chemicals and maintaining the system. Current estimated yearly costs for the system could be between $60,000 and $100,000.
Ridgeland claims to be in the “top five percent” of water systems in Mississippi. The city serves about 24,000 customers with water. Ridgeland’s water source comes from deep-water supply wells in the Cockfield and Sparta Aquifers.
Original article online at: https://www.onlinemadison.com/news/ridgeland-launches-review-on-future-of-fluoride-in-city-drinking-water-amid-supply-and-cost-concerns-620c3d0a/