PORT ANGELES — Anti-fluoride activists on the North Olympic Peninsula are once again taking their case to the state Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to end water fluoridation in Port Angeles and Forks are appealing the dismissal of their case in Clallam County Superior Court last month, said their attorney, Gerald Steel of Tacoma.
Steel said he filed the appeal Tuesday, and expects the Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear the case within five months.
The plaintiffs — Protect the Peninsula’s Future, Clallam County Citizens for Safe Drinking Water and retired Sequim physician Eloise Kailin — are skipping the state Court of Appeals in order to resolve the fluoridation issue “once and for all for Washington state,” he said.
The case will be taken to the appellate court if the Supreme Court rejects the appeal, Steel said.
The fluoride opponents, operating previously under the names Our Water-Our Choice! and Protect Our Waters, lost a case with the Supreme Court last September.
The high court sided with City Hall by ruling that the issue could not be placed on the ballot because it was an administrative decision.
The case under appeal sought to end fluoridation in Port Angeles and Forks by arguing that the practice should fall under the same regulations as the use of any prescription drug.
Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser, who heard the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest, dismissed the case because prescription drug regulations don’t extend to public drinking water.
Steel said the appellants hope that the Supreme Court will rule otherwise.
“This issue is very much in the public interest and needs a final and ultimate decision,” he said.
The city attorneys for Forks and Port Angeles — the only communities on the Peninsula that fluoridate drinking water — said they are comfortable with Verser’s ruling.
“It’s pretty well clear-cut law,” said Port Angeles City Attorney Bill Bloor.
The controversy over fluoride on the Peninsula has been ongoing since the Port Angeles City Council voted to add fluoride in 2003. Fluoridation didn’t start until 2006.
Fluoride opponents included Forks, which has used fluoride since the 1950s, in their litigation for the first time this year.
They argue that fluoride should not be added because overuse can lead to teeth staining and brittle bones.
Proponents said fluoride in the water can help prevent tooth decay.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
