It’s difficult to know why Nestle abandoned plans to pump millions of gallons of water annually from spring near the headwaters of Michigan’s White River, though the existence of an active local opposition group probably didn’t hurt.
From the Gazette News Service – Nestle pulls out of Newaygo plan:
MUSKEGON — Nestle Waters North America has halted its controversial plan to pump spring water from a site near the headwaters of the White River, saying the water was unsuitable for its purposes.
Nestle, which bottles water in Michigan under the Ice Mountain label, announced Thursday that it was not moving forward with its investigation of the site in Newaygo County’s Monroe Township because its initial scientific assessments indicate a different mineral composition than spring water currently bottled as Ice Mountain.
Yoo-Hoo. Sorta.
Score one for the little guys, though Nestle is far from finished. The battle for the heart and soul of McCloud’s water is in a lull as the case makes its way to the California Supreme Court.
It would be wonderful to wake up one morning to find out Nestle was withdrawing from the McCloud project, but despite many setbacks in court, they’re fighting tooth and nail to make the McCloud project happen.
And why not — the deal is so one-sided for Nestle that it justifies almost any amount of legal effort.
If upheld, Nestle will get to pump McCloud’s municipal water for 99 years without ever paying more than the “negotiated in secret” $300,000 annual payment.
Worse, Nestle won’t pay its share of the infrastructure costs, which will be considerable given that up to 1100 truck trips will blast through the tiny town every day, and in the event of a drought, Nestle’s pumping operation actually has priority over water for McCloud’s own citizens.
The list goes on.
[tags]nestle, nestle water, mccloud, white river, ice mountain, newaygo[/tags]
{ 1 trackback }
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Stay tuned… The battle here in Maine will be coming to a head this week when Nestle sues the people in Supreme Court. The case is being heard on Tuesday, April 10th. Nestle vs the People….. Let’s put our collective energies on the people’s side, against those 35,000 trucks in a rural residential quiet neighborhood….
Update to follow.. Maybe, just maybe, the people CAN prevail… One can only hope..
Quote
“[I]n the event of a drought, Nestle’s pumping operation actually has priority over water for McCloud’s own citizens.”
That’s disgusting. However, the contract must have its defenders outside of Nestle – it is, after all, a cantract (although the non-Nestle party may very well have been hoodwinked – I’m certainly open to that). Does anyone have a link to the actual text of the contract?
Thanks, Will
Quote
But in Maine, the situation has already occurred with a local water company. The town had no water in Jan. 2004, while the Nestle/Poland Spring trucks rolled out of town for days. And while Nestle rolled out of town, pumping directly from the town’s water supply, from the spring well that the people traditionally got their water from, the town was under a boil order order for days, trucking water in cattle watering tanks to the local nursing homes and the school. Who got the priority there????? Doesn’t look like the people did……..
Quote
AND the water company customers were the ones shouldering the costs of drilling that well in the first place!! So.. who’s recouping the benefits of Nestle/Poland Spring’s pumping.. not the customers of the water company.. no.. the superintendent of the water company and the hydrogeologist for Nestle/Poland Spring are 50/50 shareholders in the company that buys the water from the water company, (did I mention that the president of the water company is the father of the superintendent?? check out this article in the Maine Sunday Telegram last week titled “Water deal too sweet?”… http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/business/stories/070401cover.html)
Stay tuned… there is more to follow…. But the story is profiled in the introduction to the book “Water Follies” by Robert Glennon…..
Quote
Will: Many in McCloud favor the Nestle contract because of the jobs promised, though in other places the employment hasn’t appeared as promised.
Also, there are significant questions about how the contract was negotiated (with the McCloud Services district as there is no city council).
The district “approving” the contract at the end of a single public meeting in front of a few surprised meeting goers.
This is a recurring theme (secret negotiations) with Nestle projects, and one wonders why that keeps happening.
The terms of the contract couldn’t be less favorable to the town, and it’s clear that Nestle will do whatever it takes to hold onto this hugely rapacious deal (rather than renegotiate the deal even after it was struck down by several courts).
Quote
Score one for Michigan. At least the Muskegon and White rivers will not dry up! At least not right away. This is rather surprising to me due to the state of the economy in Michigan. I believe we rank 50th out of 50 states. Although I hate to say I am doing quite well! Overall jobs are becoming scarce around here and businesses are buttoning up and heading for Mexico and China. Why can’t Nestle go to China and pump thier water or Mexico for that matter?????
Quote