Dismayed bay poisoned again

As a former resident (60 years) of Skagit County — 20 years on the Samish flats — I read with dismay the news that Samish Bay is once again poisoned by fecal coliform due to heavy rain runoff. Why don’t officials address the real cause of the problem — virtually unchecked injection of liquid manure from the dairy farms in that area?

I watched the large farm across the road from my residence of 20 years pump and spray year-round. Wake up people. Is the preservation of the dairy heritage worth the eventual loss of one of the areas most precious attributes? Try to remember the next time this happens —crap doesn’t come from the sky.

Hugh Flanary
Lenore, Idaho


Fluoridation is health achievement

I am fed up with the misinformation about community water fluoridation being published on the pages of the Skagit Valley Herald’s Letters to the Editor section. As a health professional, I would like to set the record straight on a few items that have repeatedly been improperly represented.

The fact is, more than two-thirds of our country receives the proven health benefits of fluoridation — that’s more than 180 million people! In Washington, more than half of those on public water systems are receiving fluoridated water. Nearly every major city in America fluoridates, including Seattle, Tacoma and Everett — and as you know, Anacortes has been fluoridating for more than 40 years.

Why should those of us in Burlington, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley be treated as second-class citizens? It’s not fair. Our health deserves to be protected, too.

The truth is that if there were any problems with fluoridation, we would know by now. All of the false claims of negative health effects are not in line with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence. We have been fluoridating in the United States for more than 60 years, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified it as one of the greatest health achievements of the 20th century!

Our community’s health is at stake, and we voted to prevent painful and costly dental disease more than a year ago. The time to act is now.

Melanie Bergstrom
Mount Vernon


Access to fluoride a basic right

Americans started fluoridating almost 60 years ago, and its safety and effectiveness has been proved time and time again. Virtually every medical and dental association and public health organization considers fluoridation to be an exceptionally safe and effective tool for improving community oral health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has named water fluoridation as one of the top 10 public health achievements in the 20th century.

Just last year, the World Health Organization and others convened 80 experts from 30 countries to review the scientific evidence of community water fluoridation. Their conclusion? The experts reaffirmed the safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of the daily use of optimal fluoride. They confirmed that universal access to fluoride for dental health is a part of the basic human right to health.

Modern standards for water fluoridation have been adjusted to account for other sources of fluoride. Tooth decay is a serious problem here, in part because people do not get enough fluoride. In addition, fluoridated water contains only trace amounts of fluoride, and is completely healthy to consume at any quantity.

These are the facts. Skagit County deserves this basic health protection, and we voted to move forward back in 2006. I, and the majority of our community’s citizens, encourage the PUD to implement the Board of Health’s call for community water fluoridation. Stop the delays.

Linda Jonasson
Burlington