BRADFORD, Vt. -
Fluoride appears to be staying out of the water in Bradford despite some people believing in its dental health benefits.
The Water & Sewer Commission earlier this year had voted to discontinue adding fluoride to the town's water.
"One was the cost savings measure and the other was my personally was, at what point do is people over fluorided?" says Robert Nutting, Water & Sewer Commission chairman.
Nutting says it could have been expensive to add a new pump to continue putting fluoride in the water. That's one of the reasons why Nutting says the commission voted to end the fluoride addition. But it was only recently people in town were told of the commission's decision.
"Maybe we made a mistake by not contacting the users saying we were going to do it," says Nutting.
On Tuesday, people spoke before the commission about the fluoride issue. Many say they were concerned about the lack of public involvement in the commission's decision.
"We should have known about that back in April when it was taken out," says Dr. Mark Harris, a Bradford pediatrician. "When I came to this community in the 70's I could tell the difference in the children, village children, in the 70's versus children who lived outside the village just by looking at their teeth."
But there were some people in the audience who say keep the fluoride out of the water for good.
"The dentist can give this on a case by case, patient by patient. This stuff is nasty," says Peggy Coutermarsh, who lives in Bradford.
