Do you know Nestle? Maine does. Nestle bought Poland Spring in 1980. Now municipalities across the state are struggling for sovereignty against this billion dollar foreign corporation that wants their water.
The town of Fryeburg has been defending itself through 43 months of legal appeals. Residents of Kennebunk came to near riot at their town’s water board meeting causing such a stir it made it onto the nationally broadcast Lehrer News Hour. Shapleigh residents have voted in a half-year moratorium on testing for large-scale water extraction.
So why are Americans still spending $8.8 billion a year for bottled water? Bottled water can cost up to $10.32 per gallon. Tap water costs $ .005 a gallon here in Portland.
Moreover the Portland Water District tests extensively. Its web site states, “Annually experts collect nearly 6,000 samples and perform 16,000 analyses throughout the system from Sebago to tap.”
Most people believe bottled water to be safer than tap, but Amy Dowley of Food and Water Watch (FWW), a D.C. based consumer advocacy non-profit, begs to differ. She relays FWW info, “Nationally the ‘Environmental Protection Agency requires that utility companies test municipal water hundreds of times per month,’ for example New York tests ‘500,000 samples of its water per year. That’s nearly once a minute all year long.'”
“Conversely ‘The Food and Drug Administration has less than one full-time employee devoted to bottled water oversight’ and ‘the FDA requires only one water test per week by bottling companies.'”
FWW’s “All Bottled Up” report states, “In October 2008, Environmental Working Group released a report that found mixtures of 38 different pollutants, including bacteria, fertilizer, Tylenol and industrial chemicals in 10 popular U.S. bottled water brands.”
Dowley currently a USM student studying Spanish this semester will be showing the documentary “Flow” here at USM. “Flow” highlights Nestle, the world’s largest water bottler and their business dealings in the U.S.
The documentary recounts water tables falling and sink holes appearing in Michigan once Nestle started pumping. “Flow” also tells of Nestle sending private investigators to resident’s houses in Michigan to knock and growl at them “did you sign a petition!?”
Michigan resident Terri Swier states in the “All Bottled Up” report, “Nestle has violated our lives either directly or indirectly with telephone polling, private investigators , the FBI going to our homes, and a potential Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation against my son.”
“All Bottled Up” also reports that in Texas “a few days after pumping began, a local landowner’s well was depleted.” And, “Nestle threatened to sue the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department over its radio commercials promoting the healthful attributes of the city’s tap water.” So it’s not only environmental but legal troubles too. Fryeburg can attest.
While Fryeburg awaits the Maine State Supreme Court decision, here at USM water bottles and other plastics litter our trash and recycling.
USM PIRG pulled over 400 plastic bottles out of the trash in four days leading up to Earth Day last year.
Nationally 17 MILLION barrels of oil are used every year for plastic bottle production. Another 50 MILLION barrels of oil are used for pumping, processing, delivery, storage, and refrigeration of bottled water annually.
USM PIRG is asking students to use a reusable water canteen and departments to have bottle free events. Help protect the environment and maintain sovereignty over natural resources.