News Release on Nestle Challenge by Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation April 27, 2020
The April 24 ruling by Administrative Law Judge Daniel L. Pulter issued onbehalf of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy(formerly MDEQ) upheld the permit issued to Nestle Corporation by theMDEQ to pump water from the White Pine Springs well in Evart (PW-101)at a rate of 400 gallons per minute. The Contested Case brought forth byMichigan Citizens for Water Conservation and the Grand Traverse Band ofOttawa and Chippewa Indians was denied. EGLE successfully argued on behalf of Nestle and in support of theoriginal permit decision granted to Nestle by the Snyder administration onApril 2, 2018 following over a year of public comment and protest. Nestlehad been granted a permit to withdraw at 150 gpm in March of 2009. It wasgiven an additional permit, without public notice or comment, to addanother 100 gpm in April of 2015, thus pumping at 250. In July of 2016 Nestle applied for the contested permit to increase to 400gpm. Notice was given to the public in obscure publications and we werenot aware of it until notified by a reporter in October when there were only 4 days left of the public comment period. MCWC and others mounted acampaign for comment and the response was so overwhelming inopposition to the permit that the comment period was extended twice, anda public hearing was forced for the spring of 2017. Over 600 peopleappeared in Big Rapids, 50 testified against the permit, and commentswere ultimately taken from roughly 80,000 people with only a handfulsupporting the permit. It was nevertheless granted by Snyder’s MDEQunder the leadership of former BP spokesperson Heidi Grether in April of2018. MCWC filed a petition for a contested case hearing and was joined by theGrand Traverse Band. Many other organizations voiced support for ourpetition. There was eventually hope that the new administration, givennumerous campaign promises to reign in the power of corporations toexploit our natural resources, would come to the aid of the petitioners andassist us in interpreting the existing legal frameworks to demonstrate the basic flaws in allowing computer models to over-ride the real time datagenerated by past precedent in Mecosta and current conditions in Evartafter pumping at 250 gpm. This did not happen. In fact, we were never even given the courtesy of aface to face meeting with the Attorney General’s office or the director ofEGLE. We were invited to attend the public relations events held by EGLEbut were told we could not discuss the Nestle permits because we were inlitigation. Of course, Nestle was in constant contact with EGLE staff and theAssistant Attorneys general assigned to the case since they were arguingon behalf of Nestle’s permits throughout. At no time did the organs of theState see fit to consult with or support the petitioners who were asking theState to exercise its public trust responsibility to defend the waters of thecommons from exploitation and depletion. So, we were not surprised that our efforts did not result in victory in thecourt of EGLE, even after a lengthy and expensive legal battle. In the courtof public opinion, we had won long ago. The Court of Appeals had upheldthe right of Osceola Township to exercise its zoning rights and deny Nestlea booster station that was not deemed in the public interest. The injustice of Nestle’s water grab, strictly for corporate profit, while manycitizens still are without clean water throughout the state, has been wellunderstood, particularly in this time of a major health crisis that demandswater access in something other than expensive plastic bottles. Nestle hasprofited greatly from the Flint water disaster, about to witness a sixthanniversary with no justice still in sight for those responsible. The trucks roll out of the Stanwood bottling plant with even more profit as the corona virus prompts people to clear the store shelves under the false notion that bottled water is essential even for those who already have public water systems that are working. Public pressure from non-profits finally forced the Governor to act to restore public water to Detroiters who had been shut off, though those still without were given more bottled water as Nestle profit mounted. Nestle’s world-wide campaign to promote private bottled water at theexpense of affordable public infrastructure is producing predictableconsequences during the current Covid-19 crisis. Those who don’t needbottled water are hoarding it and those who cannot get public infrastructure funded and fixed are forced to rely on it to get through the crisis. Unfortunately, the laws of our state still allow private corporations to profitfrom our natural resources but do not seem to support public health andwelfare. Those laws must change so that the human right to clean,affordable water and sanitation becomes the top priority of government,rather than the promotion of corporate greed and destruction ofenvironmental support systems. MCWC intends to continue its education and advocacy work on behalf ofwater justice, and in opposition to the pollution, plunder and privatization of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin. This recent set-back, the remnant ofantiquated laws and the continuing control of our governments by largecorporations, is a temporary set-back. A new world is going to emerge fromthe current crises, and justice will have to guide us in mounting the evengreater existential challenge to control the climate crisis. The lessonslearned now will inform the rising movement to achieve a livable future forour children. This little set-back, in one insignificant court, will not deter usfrom continuing our challenges to business-as-usual or our determination to enact laws and policies that actually serve all the people and preserve our ecosystems. Michigan Citizens for Water ConservationsaveMIwater.org Email: info@saveMIwater.org Contact person:Peggy Case231-275-2244hildaheron@aol.com