Australia - H2O: Chemical-free zone in FNQ

H2O: Chemical-free zone in FNQ
Alita Pashley
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Chemical reaction: Cairns Regional councillor Julia Leu fights for chemical-free water.
A NATIONAL precedent for chemical-free water supplies may be set in the former Douglas shire if two separate campaigns are successful.
Cairns Regional Council Division 10 councillor Julia Leu said phone calls and emails had come from across the country since mandatory fluoridation was successfully delayed at a council meeting last week.
The council has sent a letter to Premier Anna Bligh asking to defer adding fluoride to the drinking water supplies at Mossman and Whyanbeel, which is due to be introduced before the end of the year.
"The campaign, and support for it, is definitely gaining momentum," Cr Leu, who has been appointed community spokeswoman, said.
"We are currently investigating taking the Queensland Government to the international court to overturn any legislation. The bottom line is that we want our water free of chemicals including chlorine and fluoride."
Cairns and Hinterland Health Service District director of oral health, Dr Robyn Boase, said the decision to implement water fluoridation would bring Queensland into line with other states and territories and was based on credible scientific evidence and a public health need.
The region also is awaiting the final protocol on chlorine-free trials in Mossman to be completed and handed to Queensland Health.
Residents of the small town have been fighting to reverse the decision to chlorinate water for more than a year and Cr Leu said advice from the consultants hired to draft the protocol showed there was no reason trials should not go ahead.
Tropical Regional Services senior director Brad McCulloch said although Queensland Health had previously rejected the protocol, the department supported the council’s decision "to maintain a safe ongoing water supply to the Douglas region".