At Monday night’s City Council meeting, in another attempt to convince council
members to eliminate the fluoridation of the city’s drinking water, several citizens rehashed and expanded arguments they had presented in past meetings.
During many of this year’s council meetings, a recurring group of Athens residents have expressed concerns about the city’s addition of fluoride to its water system. One such resident, Ohio University senior Abe Alassaf, made another trip to Council Chambers to air additional grievances about the council’s handling of the situation."It’s a public health risk,” Alassaf said. “There is new science out that shows it’s not as good as we once thought. The city is spending nearly $20,000 a year putting the chemical in the water.”
Another repeat guest and Athens resident Dane McCarthy added his own points about the chemical in the water. “The acid being used in the water is not pharmaceutical grade,” McCarthy said. “It comes directly from a fertilizer plant and contains a cocktail of other heavy metals, plastics and toxins. Adults — not to mention children — should not be exposed to this.” Despite strong statements from Athens City Law Director Pat Lang in a previous meeting stating Athens has no power to cease its fluoridation policy, OU student Dane Waller announced plans for a referendum on the November ballot. Despite the perpetual arguments for the termination of fluoridation in Athens, councilmembers are not entirely convinced.
Councilman Jeff Risner, D-2nd Ward, expressed concern that the council has not received the full story. “What we have here is a group of concerned citizens, but not one of them has training in this field,” Risner said. “There could be people out there who are pro-fluoride who have not been here. I want expert testimony. I want every dentist in town to come in and talk about it. I’ve worked for the EPA and I know those people and I know they aren’t poisoning children.”
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