News Archive

A countywide fluoridation mandate will go before voters in Lakewood this fall. The Lakewood Water District’s Board of Commissioners unanimously has agreed to let ratepayers vote whether the district should fluoridate its water, a directive from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. The health board in April decided to require all county water systems serving 5,000 […]

The Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department will study the environmental impacts of fluoride – including its effect on salmon – before continuing with plans to mandate water fluoridation. The Board of Health made the decision Wednesday after meeting in executive session to discuss the possibility of lawsuits from fluoride opponents. No other community in Washington – […]

Lakewood water users will decide in a fall election whether to comply with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s fluoridation mandate. The Lakewood Water District board of commissioners agreed to allow its Lakewood customers to vote on whether to add fluoride to their water. Many health experts say the additive prevents tooth decay. The district will […]

Washington’s largest dental insurer will give Pierce County $420,000 to help pay for fluoridating its drinking water. The grant is the biggest ever awarded by the Washington Dental Service Foundation. The Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health voted earlier this month to require fluoridation of all county water systems serving more than 5,000 people. The mandate […]

The Tacoma/Pierce County Board of Health voted unanimously Wednesday to require water fluoridation for most of Pierce County. The decision came after three hours of emotionally charged testimony by fluoride opponents and proponents. About 100 people attended the board meeting and nearly 50 testified. The board set a Jan. 1, 2004, deadline for fluoridation of […]

The Richland City Council will consider fluoridating city water in the wake of deep cuts to public health programs. Written information both for and against will be collected for council members, and a workshop will be scheduled on the topic. Councilman Larry Haler said he expected one or two public hearings to be scheduled in […]

The Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health will consider a proposal Wednesday to mandate water fluoridation for nearly a quarter of a million county residents. The board will hear public comment on the proposal and could vote on it – though it’s also possible the decision will be postponed. It’s unusual for a health board to […]

Water fluoridation took a thrashing in Spanaway Monday evening, along with health board members who failed to attend a public meeting on the subject. The choice of refreshments wasn’t very popular, either. About 70 people turned out for the Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department’s first community meeting on the agency’s proposal to require fluoridation of all […]

The backdrop for Pierce County’s opening debate over fluoridated water was a movie screen filled with images of young mouths riddled with rotten teeth. “These are all children from Pierce County,” said Dr. Rebecca Sullivan, standing in front of a photo featuring six baby teeth blackened or eaten away by decay. “A lot of these […]

It took three decades of lobbying and two hard-fought elections before residents of Tacoma agreed in 1989 to add fluoride to their drinking water. Similar battles are still being waged at the polls in cities, counties and states across the country. Now, the Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department is proposing what its director says is a […]