By HAL CLURE
Voices of the Valley

Wherever I go, people ask, “We voted for water fluoridation in 2006, when is the Skagit County PUD going to start fluoridating the water?” It’s a good question, and given recent developments, the answer should be soon, very soon.

Washington state’s attorney general has just released a formal opinion on an issue the PUD has raised repeatedly over the past four years. Can the county commissioners, acting as the Board the Health, require the PUD to fluoridate the water? According to the attorney general, the answer is yes.

This legal opinion removes the last barrier to community water fluoridation in Skagit County.

The Skagit County prosecuting attorney sought the attorney general’s opinion because the PUD had raised questions about the legality of the county commissioners’ order. The answer from our state’s highest legal authority was unequivocal.

“A county health board may lawfully order the fluoridation of a water supply system owned and operated by a public utility district and located within the county’s jurisdiction,” Attorney General Rob McKenna stated.

Now that the PUD is legally required to proceed with water fluoridation, it is time to do so — and quickly. It’s been four long years since this issue was first raised in our community. It is time to move on.

Let’s review where we stand.

* There have been four years of public debates, hearings, workshops and discussions.

* Numerous community organizations and local medical, health and dental experts have endorsed fluoridation.

* The voters approved water fluoridation 17 months ago.

* The county commissioners voted to require the PUD to begin water fluoridation.

* The funding for the fluoridation equipment has been secured.

* The agreement for designing and constructing the facility is complete and ready to be signed.

* And now, the state attorney general confirmed that the county commissioners have the legal authority to mandate water fluoridation.

Everything is set and ready to go.

The PUD has stated that it is neutral on the issue of water fluoridation. However, it wanted the legal and technical issues to be addressed. All of these issues have now been resolved. It is time to sign the final agreement and begin construction. This project should be completed fairly quickly. As an Anacortes water official was recently quoted in the Skagit Valley Herald as saying, water fluoridation is a very “simple process.”

We cannot afford to spend more public resources talking about this issue. It’s time for action, not words. It is time to follow the will of the voters and work together to fluoridate the water and improve the oral health of everyone in our community. Too many young children and aging seniors have already missed out on the benefits of water fluoridation. Too much money has been spent treating dental decay that fluoridation could have prevented.

The money for the equipment has been donated by a nonprofit foundation. This is a very generous gift that will improve the health of Skagit County residents for generations to come. We must seize this opportunity, not back away from it.

More than 180 million people throughout the country receive the health benefits of fluoride. Just recently, after a thorough evaluation of the science, Southern California began fluoridating the drinking water that goes to 18 million residents. Now it is our turn.

We have a financial incentive to prevent dental disease. More importantly, we have an ethical responsibility. Depriving people of this inexpensive health protection is just plain wrong. It is time to take action to protect oral health through water fluoridation. The health benefits will be significant — and so will the cost savings.

* Hal Clure, M.D., is a retired family physician and co-chair of Fluoride for a Healthy Skagit.