Fluoride moratorium? Utah legislator wants assurances after Sandy water ordeal

SANDY — A Utah lawmaker says a statewide moratorium on pump injectors delivering fluoride to drinking water may be necessary in light of Sandy's recent experience with malfunctioning equipment.

Rep. Steve Handy, R-Layton, said he is concerned those delivery systems are unsafe after high concentrations of undiluted fluoride were released into a portion of Sandy's drinking water system over a period of up to 48 hours.

The contamination happened in the aftermath of an overnight power outage Feb. 5 in which the pump delivering fluoride kicked on, but the water did not.

The acidic concentration of fluoride ate away at piping, elevating levels of copper and lead in the water, prompting a weekend no drink order for that area of the city from Feb. 15 until Feb. 17.

Several adults were sickened, and at least one infant was ill from ingesting formula mixed with the contaminated water.

Fallout over how Sandy officials handled the contamination, particularly notification procedures, continues to unfold with ramifications that could last months, or possibly years.

Among those impacts:

• The state of Utah is requiring the city of Sandy to move from sampling drinking water for lead and copper 30 times every three years to collecting at least 60 samples every six months in a monitoring change that could increase in even more frequency and last for an unknown duration.

• Heightened political interest in Handy's HB360 to require implementation of a $5 million mandatory testing and mitigation program for lead in drinking water in Utah's schools and more than 400 child care centers.

• Renewed controversy over fluorinating drinking water, its cost and whether it is safe.

• Increasing accountability for water systems that deliver to nonresidents outside political boundaries.......................................