Judge Orders Fluoride Back in Birmingham Water

0:00It's March 30th. Birmingham News Today starts now, AI-powered and ready. A Jefferson County judge just slapped down a temporary order on Central Alabama water. Alabama's biggest utility, forcing them to pump fluoride back. Into the drinking supply. This comes right after Birmingham sued, saying the company ditched fluoride on March 20th without the required 90-day heads up to the state, Health Officer. That's straight up against state law, and now the waters got a flow with fluoride again at every plant they run. The judge called out the utility for ignoring the rules big time, pointing to Alabama code that demands notice before any permanent switchoff. Without it, they have to revert to the old levels pronto. Birmingham argued, this hurts public health bad, and damages from missing fluoride would be tough to even tally up. Folks in Birmingham have been fluoride-free for way longer than folk stink. Some plants quit as far back as January 2023, blamed on. Posted maintenance under the old water board.

1:01The utility says they couldn't fix everything at once, so they leveled the whole system to zero rather than leave just one plant fluoridated. No public notice back then either, they claim. Now the order kicked in at 2.30 pm. Sunday and holds till 5 pm. April 2nd, with a hearing that noon for a longer injunction. The judge wants action, fast order parts, approve over time, whatever it takes across all facilities, not just one. This legal tussle highlights the fluoride fight in our water, balancing health mandates against utility headaches, and it will shape how Birmingham drinks for months ahead.