Waterloo Region continues to mull over the wording the will go into a referendum question about fluoridating drinking water, which will be put to local voters this fall.

Those who live in Elmira and St. Jacobs are among the voters that will have the question appear on their municipal election ballot, Oct. 25.

The question will also be posed to other areas in the region which have their drinking water fluoridated, including parts of Kitchener and Wilmot township.

However, the wording of the question continues to be debated.

The regional staff have proposed the question to read, “should the region continue to fluoridate your municipal water?”

That, however, has drawn opposition from some residents, including a local citizens’ group called WaterlooWatch.

In a letter to regional council, executive director Robert J. Fleming, suggested that the question read, “should the Region of Waterloo continue adding hydrofluorosilicic acid containing inorganic fluoride and known traces of arsenic and lead into your municipal drinking water?”

He was at a public meeting held at regional council last week, where concerns were raised that the proposed question, as it stands, is misleading and biased.

Those concerns will be considered by Waterloo Region staff as it prepares to bring a recommendation to regional council next month.

Elmira has had its drinking water supplied by pipeline from Waterloo since 1989, when the groundwater was discovered to be contaminated.

Today, those clean-up efforts continue with the cooperation the Ministry of the Environment, a public advisory committee and Chemtura, a chemical company linked to the contamination.

The municipal election goes Oct. 25.

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