Billy Frank Jr. was a defender of our salmon runs, half of which is the birthright of our Native Americans.
A big part of Billy’s defense of the salmon has been omitted from every eulogy I have read about him. Billy opposed fluoridation because to salmon fluoride stinks, and they swim the other way.
At John Day Dam in the 1980s, Alcoa was pouring fluoride waste in to the Columbia, and salmon were swimming in circles and avoiding fish ladders closest to the out fall. Salmon runs on the Columbia recovered only when Alcoa found another way to dispose of its fluoride.
There was an almost total salmon crash on the Sacramento River in 2008, a time when many California cities along that river were beginning fluoridation.
Likewise, there was a salmon crash on the Snohomish River in 2008. We should not be surprised. The cities of Snohomish, Everett and Marysville empty their treated sewer water into the Snohomish River, and the fluoride concentration in treated sewer water can be quite high.
Are the salmon telling us something?
For the full story see www.fluoride-class-action.com/tag/salmon.
James Robert Deal
Lynnwood
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