William Babb II: Georgia water worker fired on Nov 20, 2008, for refusing to purchase and add fluoride to water system

Tweet

|   print this page

The following is an easy-to-access version of the PDF: Fluoride warnings attached to the following two articles published Nov 29, 2008, in the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. This newspaper covers local and regional stories, which includes northern Georgia.

• Dalton: Water worker fired for opposing fluoridation
* Tennessee: Lawmaker campaigns against fluoride bill

DALTON UTILITIES

November 20, 2008

MEMORANDUM

To: William Babb

From: Ed Stanley

cc. Don Johnson, Leslie Rush & Human Resources

Re: Termination of Employment

This memo confirms that your employment with Dalton Utilities is terminated effective today. You are being terminated based upon your continued refusal to follow company policies and procedures, and your continued comments that you have no respect for and/or faith in Dalton Utilities and its managers and supervisors.

Last spring you were moved from your position as Purchasing/Reports Coordinator to a position of Water Treatment Plant Operator because you refused to perform one of the job duties in that position. Specifically, you refused to order the fluoride which the Company is specifically required to order and add to the water supply as mandated by Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division. In your current position, you are not required to order the fluoride but you are required to conduct fluoride testing to be finished water, adjust fluoride chemical feed rate, and monitor and fill the fluoride feed hopper as needed.

You refused to order the fluoride because it is your belief that fluoridation of drinking water by the Company is detrimental to the health of local consumers. You stated that you formed this belief after reading a 2006 EPA study. As a result of your concerns, the Company provided you with documentation from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources verifying the fact that pursuant to the Georgia Safe Drinking Act of 1977, the Georgia Rules for Safe Drinking Water and the specific requirements of Dalton Utilities' water permit, the Company is required to fluoridate its water.

Despite this evidence, you have continued to be very verbal about your dissatisfaction with the fact that the Company fluoridates the water. We have also received numerous complaints from your co-workers who stated that you have been complaining to them that DU is harming its customers and that you are going to make DUP pay for it. You have also recently contacted the media to verbalize your complains against the Company and evidentially feel that this is a way to make the public aware of DU's actions.

Despite the fact that you were engaging in this behavior, which has caused moral problems within our organization and may potentially create a public relations issue for the Company, we continued to employ you. Events that have transpired over the past few days, however, have left us with no alternative but to terminate your employment. Specifically, during your performance review last week, you continued to complain about the fluoridation issue, demanding your old job back (which we had no choice but to remove you from because you would not purchase the fluoride), and expressing throughout the evaluation that you had no confidence in Don Cope or any of the management at DU. Shortly after your evaluation, it was brought to our attention by one of our co-workers that you told him that you were not adding fluoride to the feeder.

While we value every employee here at DU and believe that you have the right to express your concerns about issues of importance to you, this situation cannot continue. Trust goes both ways, and if we cannot trust you to perform your job duties as required of the Company by Georgia law, whether you agree with it or not, then we can no longer employ you.

Effective today, you will not be allowed to be on any Dalton Utilities property unless approved by Human Resources and escorted by a member of Utility management. You will be required to turn in all of your uniforms by Tuesday; 11/25/08 otherwise the cost of uniforms will be deducted from your final paycheck. Contact Human Resources at [____] if you need to schedule an appointment to return any items after today.

State of Tennessee

MEMBER OF COMMITTEES
Health and Human Resources
State and Local Government

TREASURER
House Republican Caucus

December 5, 2006

Mr. Daniel Stockin
The Lillie Center, Inc.
POB 1951
Brentwood, TN 37024

Dear Mr. Stockin:

As a legislator and practicing physician serving in the Tennessee Legislature, I am writing this letter to advise you of my recommendation that water districts in Tennessee no longer add fluoride to drinking water supplies. Much information is now coming ut showing that the health risks associated with drinking fluoridated water significantly outweigh fluoride's limited cavity-fighting action. Many physicians and dentists are unaware of the recent, disturbing information about fluoridation:

1. It is now acknowledged by dental and federal health authorities that fluoride's primary action in helping to prevent cavities is topical - when the fluoride touches teeth surfaces in the mouth. This news has come out only in the past few years and is extremely significant. Water districts and health professionals originally supported fluoridation because it was believed it was important fluoride be ingested internally, so it could be used by the body to build strong, cavity-resistant teeth. Now that we know that the primary way fluoride helps prevent cavities is topically, while in the mouth, it no longer makes sense to continue absorbing it into every organ in our bodies, over our entire lifetimes, especially when new government information acknowledges concerns for fluoride's toxic cumulative effects on teeth and bones, and when people can simply use fluoridated toothpaste if desired, and spit out the fluoride. Also, evidence is now strong that teeth sealants on children's teeth are dramatically more effective than fluoride in preventing children's cavities.
2. Water fluoridation is medication added to water, as fluoride is the only substance water districts add to water to treat a health condition in our bodies. This addition of medication to water is done without first obtaining informed consent from citizens. Much of the rest of the world refuses to fluoridate water because of this issue alone. Fluoridation also assumes a"one size fits ail" approach - not taking into account variations in people's total dose ingested or people's varying health status. Fluoride affects the thyroid, the kidneys, the bones and joints, the nervous system, and our immune systems. Giving an unmeasured amount of fluoride through drinking water and not monitoring people's response to it makes no sense at ail and violates fundamental principles of toxicology, pharmacology, and ethics.
3. The National Research Council acknowledged earlier this year that infants and young children are receiving 3 - 4 times the dose of fluoride as do adults, on a body weight basis. This is very disturbing, as young children's cells are rapidly dividing and are particularly susceptible to ingested toxins. Even the American Dental Association has recently recommended that infant milk formula NOT be made with fluoridated water. If fluoridation continues in Tennessee, who is going to pay for poor families to use bottled water for formula mixing, or pay to buy these families an expensive filtration system to remove fluoride from their water? On top of this, how will ail mothers and caregivers who need this information obtain it?

The ADA says its recommendation is aimed at preventing "cosmetic" fluorosis of teeth. The Centers for Disease Control last year revealed that 32% of school kids now have some form of dental fluorosis, and that moderate and severe dental fluorosis affects nearly 2% of whites and 3-4% of minority folks ages 6 -39. To think that fluoride affects only infants' teeth forming cells and somehow miraculously spares ail other cells from harm simply strains credulity. Fluoridation also ignores the citizens who have severe dental fluorosis, which is not a cosmetic effect but an adverse health effect that is disproportionately harming inorities.

You may be told that a number of federal agencies and dental associations still support fluoridation as safe and effective. A number of other countries think otherwise, and a growing number of cities, scientists, and health professionals in the United States are also rejecting fluoridation. The reason fluoridation continues today is due to forces other than the support of good science behind it.

I recommend Tennessee water agencies immediately stop adding fluoride to their water. If a water district buys its water pre-fluoridated from another water agency, I would suggest a letter to the water supplier indicating a preference for receiving unfluoridated water. The decision to fluoridate is completely voluntary on the part of each water system. There is no requirement to add fluoride and with the new evidence of possible risks to various organs in the body and the very limited benefit of continued fluoridation, it would be prudent for each water system to weigh ail the evidence concerning risks to the water customers they serve. I would urge you to end the practice of adding fluoride for the welfare of your friends and neighbors. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have; even though I am certainly no expert on the subject, I have carefully studied the evidence and i believe you will come to the same conclusions. I have included a partial list of U.S. cities and other countries that do not fluoridate their water systems.

Sincerely,

Joey Hensley MD
State Representative

October 10, 2007

Mr. Don Johnson
Manager, Water & Wastewater Operations
PO Box 869
Dalton GA 30720

Dear Don,

Over the past few years I have openly expressed my concerns and objections to our use of fluoride in drinking water. In the interest of harmony in the workplace I have continued to place the orders for these materials. And by placing the orders for these toxic substances I feel that I have violated my conscience.

I have read the 2006 authoritative report, sponsored by the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency, that the National Research Counsel has published, concerning the effects that fluoride has on human beings, and find that the scientific evidence is overwhelming that the sustained use of fluoride in drinking water is unwarranted and in fact a serious and an eminent health risk to certain population groups whom we serve.

I believe that Dalton Utilities is doing a great disservice to our community by adding fluoride to the drinking water that our customers depend on for life, and find it irreprehensible that I would play any part in this. So, with respect to those in authority over me I am from this point on refusing to purchase, place orders for, feed, or otherwise assist in the use of any fluoride material that Dalton Utilities would put into drinking water. Should the management of Dalton Utilities choose to continue feeding fluoride without informing our customers, families and friends of the dangers that have been reported by the NRC, that's their business, and any liability will fall on their shoulders. As for me, I want no part of it.

The timing of this letter is such that you will have ample opportunity to find someone who will be prepared to place these orders before your current inventory runs out.

Respectfully
William W. Babb II

cc: Mr. Ed Stanley, Water Department Manager

You can help support our efforts to initiate legislative changes
and spread our message.