Water district rejects Longview council request to join referendum on fluoride

Action by Beacon Hill Water & Sewer District supervisors a setback to defluoridation proposal, but the issue is not dead yet

A controversial effort to remove fluoride from Longview drinking water got a setback Tuesday.

All three supervisors of the Beacon Hill Water & Sewer District declined to participate in a public advisory vote about the issue the Longview City Council may hold in November.

The district owns about a 17% share of Longview’s Mint Farm Water Treatment Plant and thus must agree to any changes in operations.

Supervisors Monte Roden and Dean Takko said they were sending a strong message to the Longview City Couincil that the district has no interest in removing fluoride from drinking water. They were joined by supervisor Rick Ames, who participated in the meeting remotely.

“I think everyone knows where we stand,” Takko said.

Longview City Councilman Erik Halvorson, the council’s chief proponent of fluoride removal, declined comment following the board of supervisors meeting at its Lexington headquarters.

What happens next is uncertain. At its first meeting in April, the City Council could go ahead with the referendum in Longview alone. The council would not be bound by the results, and it would face legal and political conflicts with Beacon Hill if it decided to stop fluoridating the water.

The supervisors did not want to speculate on what might happen if the city proceeds with fluorid removal without district consent.

”We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Roden said several times.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that has been added to U.S. drinking water systems for nearly 80 years to help prevent tooth decay. Local doctors and dentists are nearly unanimous in advocating for its continued use, and both written and oral public comment has overwhelmingly supported it.

Relying in part on the statements of a controversial Bellevue dentist, Halvorson has rasied safety and freedom of choice concerns.

This story will be expanded later tonight.