Debate Over Halting Water Fluoridation in Yorktown Continues

It’s been three months since Yorktown Supervisor Ed Lachterman ordered the suspension of water fluoridation in the town, but the debate among residents and town officials continues.

More than half of the Dec. 17 Town Board meeting was spent discussing the pros and cons of fluoridation, triggered by a recently published full-page advertisement from Councilwoman Susan Siegel. Siegel accused her four colleagues of ignoring “facts and science” and “the expertise of highly regarded public health professionals” when they voted in October to keep fluoride out of the drinking water of about 40,000 residents in Yorktown and parts of Somers.

“There are 75 years of peer reviews and science accepted studies that say fluoride is safe and has benefits,” Siegel stressed at the Dec. 17 meeting, where she was targeted by several speakers for her advertisement in Yorktown News that had the heading “Protect Our Children and Grandchildren.”

“Fluoride is not a poison. The benefits outweigh any potential harm,” Siegel insisted. “Just because you voted once, doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind.”

Fluoride was added to the water in August by the Northern Westchester Joint Water Works (NWJWW) for the first time since 2017. Yorktown is served by the NWJWW.

On Sept. 24, U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen, overseeing a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit organization Food & Water Watch and other anti-fluoride groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ruled that the current standard for water fluoridation in the United States, set at 0.7 mg/L, presents an “unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.”

Lachterman, who in August conceded the town was obligated to move forward with fluoridation, stated Chen’s decision emphasized the potential risks to vulnerable populations, including children and pregnant women, leading him to take immediate action.

“It’s a decision I’ll make seven days a week and twice on Sunday,” Lachterman remarked two weeks ago. “We err on the side of caution. I can’t put fluoride in a kid and a pregnant woman and take it out.”

Several residents, including Natasha Allison and Melanie Ryan, supported Lachterman’s decision and criticized Siegel for her stance.

“We do not want to have forced ingestion of fluoride,” Allison said.

Ryan presented several books with titles such as “The Fluoride Deception,” How Fluoride is Killing You” and “Fluoride: Drinking Ourselves to Death” to emphasize her opposition.

“It’s a hazardous waste. It’s not a natural chemical,” Ryan contended. “What makes fluoride so dangerous; the dose makes the poison.”

Andy Steigmeier maintained town officials should take a cautious approach.

“In my opinion, water should be water, nothing more, nothing less,” he said. “Putting fluoride in that water that people don’t want is not a common-sense approach.”

Others, such as twins Ella and Eva, who didn’t provide their last names, implored the board to change its thinking on fluoride.

“I hope we set policies that are based on sound science,” Ella said. “Overall, fluoride does help to prevent tooth decay.”

“Removing fluoride from drinking water can cause more harm than good,” Eva said.

Dan Strauss, a 58-year town resident, agreed with Siegel that Lachterman failed to follow the state’s Public Health Law by failing to notify the Department of Health 90 days prior to any discontinuation and failing to consult with health professionals.

“I feel you had no right to do what you did,” Strauss said. “I feel that you broke the law. Usually people listen to experts.”

Councilman Sergio Esposito said it was time Siegel and others accepted the board’s decision on fluoridation.

“I don’t want to relitigate this. It’s already been addressed,” Esposito said. “We heard from the public. This board made a decision that we were going to sit and wait. It’s distracting us from doing other critical things.”

Rick Pezzullo

Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/