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Dear Editor,
As a college professor, I am embarrassed to say I knew little about what I now call our nation’s silent water wars. These last few months, Nestle Waters North America sought a long-term lease to one of my town’s most productive springs.
I live in Orting, Wash., fifteen miles outside Tacoma near Mt. Rainier. Nestle came here after near-by Enumclaw got wise and told Nestle to leave. But our mayor saw only dollar signs, placing her trust in corporate America.
Dave Palais made Nestle sound marvelous, promising 50 jobs and millions in utility and development dollars. We’re a small town (population 6,000) best known for our endangered salmon. The deal seemed too good to be true, and it was.
The Nestle water lease wanting its own private pipeline, consultants said, sought 22.21 percent of our city’s total water rights.
Nestle planned 24/7 trucking adjacent to three schools. There would be air and effluent pollution from plastic bottle production. Nestle planned to use more water in the summer during our yearly May to October drought.
What was our mayor thinking?
Just a few dry summers ago, we experienced water rationing here. Our salmon need adequate stream flows in the summer. With global climate change, water resources for people and wildlife must be safeguarded.
An exclusive long-term lease would have given the people’s municipal water to Nestle for generations to come. It would have been ethically irresponsible. Fantastic profits for bottlers would be at the great expense of our communities and ecosystems.
We’ve learned recently not to trust big money to make wise decisions. We have an obligation to protect municipal water supplies for the future even during economic slowdowns.
I’m asking McCloud citizens to join me and others around the country in telling corporate bottlers to leave our towns immediately. Save water for life, not profit.
Philip Heldrich
Orting, Wash.
Dear Editor,
As a college professor, I am embarrassed to say I knew little about what I now call our nation’s silent water wars. These last few months, Nestle Waters North America sought a long-term lease to one of my town’s most productive springs.
I live in Orting, Wash., fifteen miles outside Tacoma near Mt. Rainier. Nestle came here after near-by Enumclaw got wise and told Nestle to leave. But our mayor saw only dollar signs, placing her trust in corporate America.
Dave Palais made Nestle sound marvelous, promising 50 jobs and millions in utility and development dollars. We’re a small town (population 6,000) best known for our endangered salmon. The deal seemed too good to be true, and it was.
The Nestle water lease wanting its own private pipeline, consultants said, sought 22.21 percent of our city’s total water rights.
Nestle planned 24/7 trucking adjacent to three schools. There would be air and effluent pollution from plastic bottle production. Nestle planned to use more water in the summer during our yearly May to October drought.
What was our mayor thinking?
Just a few dry summers ago, we experienced water rationing here. Our salmon need adequate stream flows in the summer. With global climate change, water resources for people and wildlife must be safeguarded.
An exclusive long-term lease would have given the people’s municipal water to Nestle for generations to come. It would have been ethically irresponsible. Fantastic profits for bottlers would be at the great expense of our communities and ecosystems.
We’ve learned recently not to trust big money to make wise decisions. We have an obligation to protect municipal water supplies for the future even during economic slowdowns.
I’m asking McCloud citizens to join me and others around the country in telling corporate bottlers to leave our towns immediately. Save water for life, not profit.
Philip Heldrich
Orting, Wash.
