PORTLAND — Portland residents are voting whether to add fluoride to the drinking water to help prevent tooth decay, but one-third of the water bureau’s 900,000 customers live outside the city and don’t have a say in the decision.
Gresham, Tigard and Tualatin are among 19 Oregon cities that buy water from the Bull Run Reservoir and their contract with the Portland Water Bureau says it can change the water without asking them.
One Gresham resident, Elaine Rodgers, told KATU it’s not fair.
Portland in the largest U.S. city without fluoridated water. The city council voted to add it, but opponents rallied to put it on the May 21 ballot. The opponents say it violates a person’s right to consent to medication.
