Longtime readers know of my deep and abiding dislike of Nestle Waters of North America – a small division of one of the world’s most (deservedly) boycotted corporation.

They’re like the Enron of the bottled water world, only better run – and perhaps even less ethical (this is the same multinational that knowingly tricked third-world moms into a dependence on their baby formula in the 70s and 80s – a practice they haven’t quite stopped today).

I got tired of their divisive, behind-the-scenes antics in the nearby town of McCloud, and after a little research revealed the depths they seemed happy to sink to in other small towns (they sued the tiny town of Fryeburg, Maine five times [losing the first four] before they found the legal loophole they needed to force the town to permit a 24/7 truck loading station in a residential area).

They even inspired one of the Trout Underground’s better April 1 posts.

Now it looks like they might finally be getting the hell out of McCloud. (They just recently had their asses handed to them in Mecosta County, MI.)

Either way, I like the sound of this (from my StopNestleWaters.org site):

We knew that Nestle Waters of North America’s just-announced water bottling plant in Sacramento, CA, might have an impact on their long-delayed McCloud bottling plant.

From the Mount Shasta Herald:

“In four to six weeks, we will let McCloud know if we will continue with our McCloud plans,” company representative Dave Palais said Monday night, noting that a recent article incorrectly stated that the company would be dropping its McCloud proposal.

Woot!

Well, maybe.

This is also reeks of a seen-plenty-of-times-before negotiating tactic used by Nestle in McCloud and other towns, whereby they hope to stampede yokels into accepting Nestle’s typically rapacious deals.

I’d like to point out that Nestle – and the bottled water industry at large – are suffering the effects of a sizable downturn in the bottled water market, which used to grow at double-digit rates.

They blame the economy, but public backlash against bottled water continues to grow, and with the US bottled water market shrinking 3% in just the first quarter, it’s pretty clear that Nestle’s promises of jobs to McCloud could be turning to vapor as we speak.

See you on the Nestle-free McCloud river, Tom Chandler

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