PORT ANGELES — Opponents of the city’s water fluoridation project sued Monday to stop it, just as they vowed when the City Council gave its final approval to the water additive last September.
The lawsuit was filed in Clallam County Superior Court against the city of Port Angeles and Washington Dental Services Foundation, which awarded the city a $260,000 grant to fluoridate its water supply and educate the public about the tooth decay prevention attributes of fluoridation.
The suit was filed by the groups Clallam County Citizens for Safe Drinking Water and Protect the Peninsula’s Future, and retired physician Eloise Kailin of Blyn.
The plaintiffs unsuccessfully appealed the city’s environmental permit before the City Council in an extraordinary session last summer.
Their lawsuit challenges the gifting agreement signed March 1, 2004, between the city and the dental foundation, saying it violates requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act.
They want to stop the city from fluoridating its water until it complies with the act.
City attorney
City Attorney Bill Bloor said Monday that he hadn’t had time to analyze the lawsuit yet and couldn’t comment.
He will send notice that the city has received the lawsuit, send copies to the appropriate people, and then a court date will be set, Bloor said.