Resumption of Lake Major water fluoridation could take years

March 7, 2025

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Resumption of Lake Major water fluoridation could take years

Halifax Water Faces Lengthy Delay in Resuming Fluoridation Process at Lake Major Water Supply Plant

It could be a considerable amount of time before the Lake Major water supply plant is able to resume its fluoridation process, which has been offline since April 2020. Limited chemical storage space at the facility is a key factor in the potential delay, with estimates ranging from one year to as long as 10 years before fluoridation can be reinstated, as revealed during a presentation to Halifax’s environment and sustainability standing committee by Halifax Water.

The plant serves customers in Dartmouth, Cole Harbour, Eastern Passage, North Preston, Westphal, and Burnside, providing essential drinking water to these communities. Over the years, the volume of alum used to treat the lake water has increased significantly, from 200,000 kilograms when the plant was first commissioned in 1999 to now exceeding one million kilograms.

Wendy Krkosek, Halifax Water’s director of environment, health, and safety, highlighted the necessity of expanding storage capacity within the plant due to the increased alum usage. Halifax Water is currently exploring three options to reintroduce fluoride, a mineral that plays a crucial role in dental health by protecting teeth from cavities and decay.

The preferred option involves relocating the storage area for orthophosphate, a chemical used for corrosion control, to another part of the facility. This adjustment would facilitate the installation of an additional alum tank and enable fluoride to be back online within two years, at an estimated cost of $1 million.

Another option under consideration is to repurpose the ongoing alum tank installation for fluoride, expediting the process to reinstate fluoride within a year at a cost below $500,000. However, this approach poses risks in case of any changes in water quality.

See also Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s tough Bronx persona is under fresh scrutiny with a resurfaced childhood nickname from her suburban upstate New York upbringing casting doubt on that publicly portrayed image. The progressive champion’s latest spat with President Donald Trump over the Iran strikes again called into question her true upbringing when she declared on X she was a “Bronx girl" to make her a point against the president. The 35-year-old congresswoman wrote in part on X: "I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully," she said, referring to the president’s upbringing in Queens as she called for his impeachment over his decision to bypass Congress in authorizing U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx but moved to Yorktown – which is nearly an hour outside New York City -- when she was 5 years old and went on to attend Yorktown High School where she graduated in 2007. She was considered an accomplished student there and well thought of by teacher Michael Blueglass, according to a 2018 report by local media outlet Halston Media News. “There, known by students and staff as ‘Sandy,’ she was a member of the Science Research Program taught by Michael Blueglass," the report states. “She was amazing," Blueglass said, per the report. “Aside from her winning one of the top spots and going to the [Intel International Science and Engineering Fair], she was just one of the most amazing presenters in all of the years I've been at Yorktown. Her ability to take complex information and explain it to all different levels of people was fantastic." After high school, Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she majored in economics and international relations, per the report. Ocasio-Cortez’s “Sandy" nickname — which carries a more suburban and preppy tone — appears to undercut her politically crafted image as a tough, inner-city fighter, one she has portrayed since her famous 2018 congressional campaign where she eventually ousted former 10-terms Congressman Joe Crowley. New York GOP Assemblyman Matt Slater, who now represents Yorktown, added to the scrutiny of Ocasio-Cortez’s persona in the wake of her brash with Trump and released images of Ocasio-Cortez from his high school yearbook. He claimed he and the rising Democratic star attended Yorktown High School at the same time when she was a freshman and he was a senior. "I saw the attacks on the president and her [Ocasio-Cortez] claims that she's a big, tough Bronx girl," said Slater. "To sit there and say that she’s a Bronx girl is just patently ridiculous." "Everybody in our community knows this is just a bold-face lie," said Slater on "Fox & Friends First" last week. "She grew up in Yorktown, she was on my track team." "She's lying about her background, she's lying about her upbringing," Slater claimed. Slater’s post sent social media ablaze and prompted Ocasio-Cortez to respond after an image if her family’s home was posted online. “I’m proud of how I grew up and talk about it all the time," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X Friday responding to the post. “My mom cleaned houses and I helped. We cleaned tutors’ homes in exchange for SAT prep." “Growing up between the Bronx and Yorktown deeply shaped my views of inequality & it’s a big reason I believe the things I do today!"

The third option entails incorporating fluoridation into major long-term capital upgrades at the Lake Major facility, extending the timeline to five to 10 years for fluoride to be reintroduced and costing under $500,000. Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini expressed support for the two-year timeframe of the first option, emphasizing the importance of not delaying fluoride supplementation for children.

Halifax Water plans to present these options to its board of commissioners on March 27 for further consideration. Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia Environment Department recognizes the significance of fluoridation in safeguarding public health, citing strong scientific evidence in support of this practice.

Halifax Water has a history of adding fluoride to some of its water supply plants since the 1950s, but the six smaller treatment plants have never incorporated fluoride. Fluoridation of drinking water at Halifax Water’s Pockwock Lake facility resumed in December 2024 following a hiatus of over a year.

In a post on its website in January, Halifax Water explained that the decision to take the fluoride tank at Lake Major offline in 2020 was due to safety concerns as it reached the end of its useful life. Despite initiating a replacement project in 2021-22, unforeseen challenges arose from extreme weather events in 2023, necessitating increased chemical usage to maintain compliance with regulations.