CROWLEY - A request by Crowley Mayor Greg Jones and members of the City Council to suspend the fluoridation process of Crowley’s water supply has been denied by Louisiana Water Co. due to a State Statute that was passed in the 2008 State Legislature.

Mayor Jones penned the letter July 21 and received a reply on July 26 from W.E. Edrington, III, Executive Vice-President of Louisiana Water Co.

Mayor Jones initially asked for the suspension in order for an investigation to take place in regards to monitoring and administration of fluoride in the city water.

Edrington said, “Unfortunately, we cannot suspend the addition of flouridation because of a State Statute, passed by the 2008 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. LAC 48:V.1101, 1303-1315 and LAC 51:XII.317 addresses the addition of fluoride. Chapter 13, subsection 1315 states, ‘Any public water system with over 5,000 service connections that has initiated fluoride prior to, on, or after July 6, 2008, shall not discontinue fluoridation without the approval of a majority of the registered voters who cast a vote in a local election called and held in accordance with R.S. 40:5.11(B).’ Simply put, since we have initialized fluoridation of the water, we cannot quit without your holding a referendum for the citizens to vote in.”

LAWCO did however promise Mayor Jones complete cooperation in the matter. “We will open our records regarding fluoridation to your investigation as well as make available for inspection any and all components chemicals, chemical feed equipment, etc. that we use in conjunction with the addition of fluoride to the water supply.