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City Ends Fluoridation Ahead Of State Ban

    Ahead of a July 1 legal deadline, the City of Umatilla has already ended the practice of adding fluoride to the city water supply.  A practice for decades, the practice is ending due to the recent passage of new state laws that will prohibit the practice.
    City officials this week said the city has run out of fluoride, and decided not to spend resources on more supply, much of which would have had been excess and require hazardous waste disposal once deemed illegal.
    “We only stopped after the bill was signed into law,” said Umatilla City Manager Aaron Mercer.  “We didn’t want to spend the money on fluoride just to have (the) balance disposed of.”
    City public works director Vaughan Nilson estimated the city will save up to $10,000 annually not putting fluoride in its drinking water.
    The city recently had been given fluoride by the City of Tavares, which had ended the practice earlier this spring.  Nilson said the city also used that donated fluoride.
    “We received approximately 60 gallons from Tavares,” Nilson said.  “We did not have any left over, but if we had we would have needed to contact a hazmat recycler.”
    Nilson said the city’s last day of putting fluoride in city water was June 9.