Neighboring counties weigh in on increased fluoride levels in Richmond water supply

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — County officials from Hanover, Henrico and Chesterfield said they weren't notified until late Sunday night about a pump installation at Richmond’s water system that caused fluoride levels to temporarily increase for five hours.

According to Richmond city, on Wednesday, April 23, a new fluoride pump was installed and caused the level of fluoride to increase for “a period of five hours.”

Water plant staff also failed to notify the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) within a 24-hour requirement period of the fluoride level increase.

According to VDH, fluoride levels detected at the Water Treatment Plant were 2.67 milligrams per liter (mg/L) which is below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 4.0 mg/L, the highest level that is allowed in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The recommended optimal target level of fluoride is 0.7 mg/L. 

Richmond city officials also emphasized that at no point did samples collected in the distribution system indicate the fluoridation level exceeded the MCL of 4.0 mg/L within the region.  

VDH Office of Drinking Water Director Dwayne Roadcap shared his statement:

"The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) learned about the City of Richmond’s April 23 fluoride exceedance late in the evening on Sunday, April 27.  The Office of Drinking Water (ODW) immediately engaged with the City and neighboring jurisdictions that evening.

VDH has not identified any risk to public health from the temporary fluoride exceedance. The VDH State Toxicologist reviewed data with ODW and determined that the fluoride concentration was too low and too short in duration to cause an immediate (acute) health risk of nausea, vomiting, or heart effects.  ODW conferred with the State Epidemiologist, Local Health District Directors, and the US EPA for additional perspective. 

The Office of Epidemiology reviewed hospital admission records and found no increase of admissions for nausea or heart effects.  All information gathered to date confirms that there has been no immediate (acute) or long-term (chronic) health risk from the temporary fluoride exceedance.    

VDH is investigating this matter and appreciates the City of Richmond’s continued cooperation.  The City of Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico, and Hanover counties are monitoring fluoride concentrations daily and reporting those results to VDH.” -- Dwayne Roadcap

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula also shared his thoughts on the issues.

“I’m disappointed with our failure to communicate. This incident damages the work we’re doing to rebuild trust — not only with the residents of Richmond, but our communities, and our regional partners, including Henrico, Chesterfield, and Hanover. We must do better,” Avula said.

Hanover County's Department of Utilities (DPU) Director Matt Longshore said it was disappointing that his team wasn’t notified about the fluoride increase immediately, but said open dialogue is key to keeping this from happening again.

“There's always frustration when there's lacking communication or a lag in communication,” Longshore said. “It could be standing meetings moving forward with the city, with regional partners. Making sure that those communication lines are open both ways, that our regional partners know, we're here to, to understand what's going on and help in any way we can.”

Henrico County DPU Director Bentley Chan shared his own statement with 8News:

“Henrico was discouraged by this most recent event but remains hopeful that communications from the city will be better moving forward. Our region's current and future health and prosperity rely on water from Richmond's water treatment plant, just as they have for decades. If this essential service is challenged in any way, the city's municipal customers need to know promptly so we can help address the issues and, as appropriate, communicate next steps with our residential and business customers.

Moving forward, better communication and coordination between the region’s utilities will be most beneficial in assisting and addressing issues and challenges that affect services to all customers.

Henrico is ready and looks forward to further discussions on how the region's localities might partner to play a more proactive and prominent role in the access to and delivery of reliable, safe, and high-quality drinking water to the entire community. Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield have considerable experience and expertise within their respective public utilities departments and across their local governments. These resources could be combined with the city's - for example, through a regional authority - to enhance the delivery of water service throughout the region.” -- Bentley Chan

 Chesterfield County also provided a statement on the matter:

“Chesterfield County shares the region’s concern with the lack of timely communication from the City of Richmond’s Water Treatment Plant regarding the recent fluoride incident. The county relies on water from Richmond and two other sources to support its many residents and businesses. Chesterfield is committed to working with the Mayor and the Richmond Public Utilities Department to strengthen communications between its regional partners. It is the best interest of all the localities in the Richmond region to work together to provide safe, reliable water.” -- Chesterfield County