Lordsburg Alerts Residents After Fluoride MCL Exceedance, Plans Reverse-Osmosis Plant

The City of Lordsburg has notified customers that its public water system exceeded the fluoride maximum contaminant level, citing a New Mexico Environment Department running annual average of 5.4 mg/L at Entry Point #1 for 2Q2023 while the fluoride MCL is 4.0 mg/L. Residents seeking information can call the city at 575-542-3421 or email mayor@cityoflordsburg.org; the city posted its consumer notice on March 4, 2026.

The New Mexico Environment Department Drinking Water Bureau sent a Notice of Violation on July 19, 2023 that states, “This letter serves as Notice of Violation (NOV) that the Lordsburg Water Supply System exceeded the fluoride MCL at Entry Point #1 during the 2nd quarter of 2023.” The NMED letter includes regulatory citations defining the MCL in 20.7.10.100 NMAC and requires the Lordsburg Water Supply System (NM3522812) to notify customers within thirty days of the letter; NMED’s header lists its Las Cruces office at 2301 Entrada Del Sol and a contact phone of 505-690-6657.

Lordsburg’s March 4, 2026 consumer notice reproduces the standard NMED consumer language and reports that the city’s existing ion-exchange fluoride removal system is out of service: “this time our fluoride removal system is out of service and there is no plan to bring this system back online.” The city says it “recently finished a pilot study as of December 2023” and is “moving ahead with replacing the old ion exchange fluoride removal system with a new reverse osmosis (RO) treatment plant,” but acknowledges, “This project will take time and we do not yet have an expected date of completion.”

The consumer notice includes federally required public-health language about long-term exposure and dental effects: “Fluoride in drinking water at half the MCL or greater may cause mottling of children’s teeth, usually in children less than nine years old…Although it takes many years of exposure to fluoride for bone disease to develop, mottling can occur after a relatively short period of exposure.” The city lists contact information in the notice and shows an address beginning “409 W …”; NMED’s records give the city address as 409 W Wabach Ave, Lordsburg, NM 88045.

Documents show a discrepancy in the mayor’s name: NMED addressed the July 19, 2023 letter to “Glenda Green,” while the city notice lists “Mayor Glenda Greene.” The materials provided do not explain the apparent gap between NMED’s 30-day notification requirement after July 19, 2023 and the city’s March 4, 2026 posting, nor do they provide a completion timetable, pilot-study findings, or interim mitigation measures. The city’s notice concludes that “Until this issue is resolved, and fluoride levels are reliably and consistently within the allowable drinking water standard, we will continue to provide these notices to the public, along with updates as progress is made.”