PORT ANGELES — A lawsuit challenging the city’s public water fluoridation project was dismissed Thursday by Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser.
The lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial before Verser Oct. 7 in Port Townsend.
Verser dismissed it “with prejudice,” meaning it can’t be refiled.
The lawsuit was filed in April by Clallam County Citizens for Safe Drinking Water and Protect the Peninsula’s Future, and retired Blyn physician Eloise Kailin.
The two groups and Kailin sought to force the city of Port Angeles to prepare a full environmental impact statement for its proposed public water fluoridation project.
City Attorney Bill Bloor filed a motion Aug. 18 to dismiss the lawsuit.
Bloor argued that even though the city conducted an environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act, the water fluoridation project was “categorically exempt” from the act’s requirements.
Fluoridation opponents argued that the two were mutually exclusive. If the city conducted an environmental review then the project couldn’t be exempt from the state’s environmental review law.
‘Purely legal’ questions
Verser wrote that the decision dealt with “purely legal and constitutional questions.”
“This court cannot determine if fluoridation is an appropriate health measure, nor will this court consider personal views on the subject of fluoridation,” his decision stated.
Verser also wrote, “This is not a motion for summary judgment where the court would have to accept all facts in a light most favorable to the petitioners.
“Petitioners argue that the court must accept the position that fluoridation of water is an unhealthy practice which should be eliminated and then proceed to an analysis of the record. This is not the case.”
Kailin said she wanted to read Verser’s decision before commenting on it.
“We’ve got to see what the judge did, what his reasoning was. Then we can decide what to do next,” Kailin said.
“Of course we’re disappointed that the judge took action he did, but we need to know his reasons to understand what to do next.”