Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo Common Council this week received a letter from the Buffalo Water Board indicating that equipment is being installed to put fluoride back in the city's drinking water.
"Construction started more than a month ago," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown on WBEN Thursday.
Asked why it's has taken so long, the mayor said, "we were waiting for approval from the county and state health departments for the plan that the water board submitted."
Previously, fluoride was added to the water supply manually.
Now, it is going to be added by computer.
The mayor said it's an important change.
"As we have seen across the country, when water sources have changed,
it has led to contamination of water. The Water Board did not want to allow that to happen here. With the upgrade in systems, it was finally approved and the construction is finally happening now," he said.
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The city stopped putting fluoride in its water system in 2015.
Meanwhile, attorney Robert Corp of Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP, is representing city residents in a class action lawsuit over the lack of fluoride. He tells WBEN the resumption of the mineral does not change anything.
"We have about a dozen families named as plaintiffs in the suit. We're hoping to represent a class of all of the folks who lived in the city at any point since 2015."
The complaint alleged damages that exceed 160 million dollars. Corp said those damages are increasing every day. "As far as we're concerned," he said, "every day that goes by without fluoride in the water, continues to harm the people of Buffalo."
He added that cavities and other dental problems that result from lack of fluoride will appear even after fluoridation resumes.
"There is no mandate from the state or federal government that fluoride must be in the water supply. But there are state laws regarding stoppage of fluoridation. You have to follow a specific process and timeline which was not
done here. And up until last year, Buffalo Water's website reflected that fluoride was being added to the water, when in fact it wasn't," Corp noted.
Mayor Brown says lessons have been learned since it's initial removal.
"Whether it's the pandemic, or a snow storm, or changing the process of adding fluoride, the public needs to be communicated with in a variety of different ways. Just one way isn't enough. The city will no longer rely on any one means of communication," said Brown.