PIERCE COUNTY: Bill would give fluoridation authority to local groups

PIERCE COUNTY: Bill would give fluoridation authority to local groups

Tacoma, WA - 2/4/03 - State reps. Roger Bush (R-Graham) and Dan Roach (R-Bonney Lake) introduced a bill Monday to allow residents and their local elected water district officials to decide whether to put fluoride in their water.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Board last year ordered 14 water suppliers, serving 238,000 people throughout Pierce County, to fluoridate drinking water.

The order requires the water suppliers to comply by Jan. 1, 2004, or face fines. Six water utilities and the City of Bonney Lake have filed a lawsuit challenging the health board's authority to issue such an order. The case still is in court.

If the bill passes the Legislature, water purveyors can put fluoride in their water only upon approval of their customers or the systems' elected local governing bodies.

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