Water, Water Everywhere — Is It Safe to Drink?

I still remember my first exposure to the nutty idea. I was reading an anthology of humorist P.J. O’Rourke’s early work from his National Lampoon days. There is was, dripping with satire, a flow chart about how fluoridated water was turning America’s kids into communists. I laughed out loud. I’m sure I was not alone. The thought […]

Columbia: Five things residents should consider about fluoride

Water is for everyone. Fluoride is not. Fluoridation chemicals are added to 70 percent of U.S. public drinking water supplies to aid in the prevention of cavities. This benefit is dubious at best, as there is practically no difference in tooth decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries or U.S. states. While fluoride in drinking […]

Could fracking the Monterey Shale lead to the next Big One?

The Monterey Shale runs through some major fault lines, and that’s raised concerns in earthquake-prone California. Could high-pressure pumping under the earth to free the shale’s valuable oil deposits — known as hydraulic fracturing — trigger the next Big One? It’s a question that seismologists get frequently as the debate heats up over fracking and […]

Davis County: Fluoridation is not social justice

Several proponents of adding fluoridation chemicals to Davis water have argued for it on the basis of social justice for minority and poor residents. But such civil rights activists as the League of United Latin American Citizens and Andrew Young — former Atlanta mayor, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and friend and supporter […]

Intel responds to fluoride reporting omission, calls it ‘inadvertent’

Intel’s failure to report its fluoride emissions in Washington County to the state for years was an “inadvertent oversight,” a company spokeswoman said Friday in a written statement. The chip-making company has been emitting fluoride since 1978, but only recently added the pollutant to an air quality permit application with the state. Company spokeswoman Chelsea […]

Environmentalists turn on California’s first real fracking law

Earlier this month, the Environmental Working Group — the D.C.-based nonprofit that helps the green-conscious decide which sunscreen to wear and what to wash their dishes with — was rallying California followers to contact state legislators in support of a bill to regulate fracking. The sun was about to set on California’s 2012-2013 legislative session […]

Clarksburg Water Board tables fluoride decision

After much debate among themselves and with others in attendance, members of the Clarksburg Water Board voted Thursday to table whether to continue adding fluoride to the drinking water. Tabling the matter was the only thing that Water Board members could agree on, with Paul Howe and Charlie Thayer saying they still leaned toward removing […]

Intel has been emitting fluoride for years without state knowledge, permit

Though Intel has been emitting fluoride since 1978, the company is only now adding the pollutant to an air quality permit for its Washington County-based operations. “Fluoride is unfortunately a bit of an oversight,” state environmental engineer George Davis told Hillsboro residents at a permit meeting this week. “It should have been in the permits […]

Clarksburg editorial: Give voters last word on fluoridation

There is a move afoot across the nation to stop fluoridation of public water systems, and Clarksburg is the latest municipality to ponder the issue. Two members of the Clarksburg Water Board — Charles Thayer and Paul Howe — are leaning toward voting to end fluoridation of the city’s water. Despite the endorsement of the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the American […]