USA - Mayor confirms South Blount Utility District will add fluoride

Mayor confirms South Blount Utility District will add fluoride
The more than 14,000 South Blount County Utility District customers will soon be receiving something extra in the water supply — fluoride.
According to County Mayor Jerry Cunningham, the utility’s Board of Directors reversed its long-standing opposition to fluoridation at its January meeting, voting to begin fluoridating the water treated at its plant.
The unexpected news came after the end of the Blount County Commission meeting on Thursday. When answering reporter questions, Cunningham confirmed the end of a long-running controversy
“It’s not a big change to implement, so I think it will be in the very near future,” Cunningham said.
The utility issued the following statement Thursday night:
“After the careful consideration of a request from the Blount County Mayor’s Office to reconsider fluoridating the county’s water system, SBCUD felt it was no longer in our best interest to exhaust the time and efforts of our executive staff in another public fight over such a divisive issue.
“We understand that our decision will be disappointing to many of our customers and for that we are very sorry. We regret that we are not able to meet the individual desires of each of customers on both sides of the issue.”
The addition of fluoride to the water supply, a method to reduce dental cavities in widespread use around the country, has been the subject of local controversy since the SBCUD board voted not to fluoridate the water when the district opened its new plant in July 2004.