Marshall board votes to stop adding fluoride to village water

The Marshall Village Board voted 7-0 on July 9 to stop adding fluoride to the village’s drinking water, approving a motion by Trustee Tara Gibbons and seconded by Trustee Julie Bowman.

Director of Public Works Matt Pitzer told the board fluoride is not required by the Department of Natural Resources and framed the additive as a narrowly targeted public-health measure for children. Pitzer raised infrastructure and safety concerns, saying fluoride is “very corrosive and hard on infrastructure,” and recounting an equipment leak that, he said, “overnight…ate out an inch deep hole in the concrete floor.” He also stated that “if fluoride and chlorine mix, they create a gas that is lethal within minutes,” describing containment requirements that have raised costs for other municipalities.

Pitzer said recent wellhouse construction standards now call for secondary containment when both chemicals are used; he cited the Village of Waterloo received a quote of about $200,000 for a new wellhouse with separate chemical feeds, and he noted the Village of Columbus has also removed fluoride.

Trustee Julie Bowman asked what opposition other municipalities faced; Pitzer said Waterloo had minimal pushback, noting one dentist spoke in opposition at that village’s meeting. Board members expressed agreement with Pitzer’s safety and cost concerns before voting. The motion passed without discussion of an implementation date; the minutes do not specify when fluoridation will cease or any procedural steps for the change.

The board’s action ends municipal fluoridation in Marshall; the minutes do not record public comment in opposition or citation of alternative dental programs. Questions about an exact implementation schedule and any communications to residents or local dental providers were not specified in the record.