USA - Sebastopol considers opposing county fluoridation plan

Sebastopol city officials, who oversee an independent municipal water system, are likely to take a stand Tuesday on a highly controversial county proposal to fluoridate the drinking water supply outside the city.In so doing, they’d be following the lead of the Cotati City Council, which last fall submitted a letter to Sonoma County supervisors opposing the plan. Cotati officials said they favored expanding dental services and education for those at risk of tooth decay.

But while Cotati is among the nine contractors whose water supply would contain fluoride if county supervisors opted to pursue the plan, Sebastopol is not. Some City Council members, however, say their constituents roam far and wide around Sonoma County to communities “where they would have no choice in their consumption of fluoride.” Council members also expressed concern about the cost of removing fluoride from wastewater treated at the regional plant and the potential risk to wildlife in the Laguna de Santa Rosa should fluoride-tainted wastewater find its way there.

Fluoride may also seep into the groundwater that feeds Sebastopol’s wells, said Mayor Robert Jacob. “We know that there’s conflicting science and conflicting opinions on fluoridation,” Jacob said. “But for us to add something that we don’t have definitive data that it is safe is a wrong measure.”

Councilmembers Michael Kyes and Sarah Glade Gurney, who serve on the council’s water subcommittee, recommended the city take a position against fluoridation. “We’re just agreeing with Cotati’s decision that people should have a choice whether they have fluoride in their water or not,” Kyes said....