EDITORIAL: Nestlé Fight Is Not Finished

By Sterling R. Quinton

Like David first entering the fray, with a self-satisfied Goliath lounging smugly from former victories far downfield, Chaffee County’s Nestlé opposition came together en masse on Thursday, August 27, signaling that the battle over the future of water in Colorado has only just begun.

A standing-room-only crowd packed the Salida SteamPlant for what amounted to a strategic orientation, a part of which featured a showing of the recently released film Tapped.

The film, directed and produced by Stephanie Soechtig, is an unflinching examination of the opaque, and largely unregulated bottled-water industry whose operations have not only convinced the world’s population to pay extravagant sums for a basic human necessity, but have, according to many leading biologists and ecologists, wrought untold and, perhaps, irreparable damage to the Earth’s ecology in the process.

Phrases such as “irreparable damage to the Earth’s ecology” are hard to swallow for portions of any community who feel that the environmental debate is overblown. That could be because they’ve not yet correlated an economy of convenience with the astonishing growth of nearly every chronic disease over the last several decades, some diseases by as much as 30 percent.    

A traditional review of such a documentary dictates that this article’s author highlight the film’s inadequacies in an attempt to appear impartial.  Yes the film has some stylistic points which are wanting, but to focus there is to take away from the bigger issues.

Among many others, those issues include:

1.  Bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water.  In fact in some cases it may actually be worse for you.  Instate sales of bottled water (which account for 40-60 percent of total sales) are not regulated by the FDA.  As a result, many bottles of water can potentially contain the same contaminants that unfiltered tap water sometimes does (e.g. pharmaceutical wastes) in addition to heightened levels of toxic chemicals such as phthalates which “are known to disrupt testosterone and other hormones.”  Furthermore, lots of bottled water comes from “municipal sources” which means it’s just filtered tap water: essentially the same thing you’d drink at home.

2.  The bottled water industry, while touting itself as “green,” is contributing an inordinate amount of plastic waste and pollutants directly into the environment.  The fact is that gardens, ranches, rains, snows, predictable seasons, rafting and skiing (integral parts of our local economy) are all immediately reliant upon a healthy environment and are endangered by such large scale pollutants. 

In addition to the fact that the production of such plastics releases large amounts of the chemicals identified as aggravators of climate change, the film also points out that, “In 2005, 2 million tons of plastic water bottles ended up clogging landfills instead of being recycled.”  Many of these bottles make their way from the landfills to the rivers and oceans choking out riparian habitats and turning massive swathes of the ocean into a soupy mix of plastic particulates. 

The amount of plastic in the ocean is hard to conceptualize for anyone who has not witnessed it firsthand.  One of the leading researchers studying the effects of plastic in our oceans, Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, found that in just the last 10 years, the ratio of plastic to zooplankton (a source of primary food for ocean dwellers) climbed from an already astonishing 6:1, to a jaw-dropping 46:1.  That means there’s 46 times more plastic “by weight in the Central Pacific,” than zooplankton.  This could be part of the reason why 90 percent of the world’s large fish populations (e.g. tuna and cod) have disappeared over the last fifty years.

3.  The move towards commoditization and privatization of one of the most basic resources necessary to all life on the planet should be a concern to us all.  Especially because this process is overseen by a government which Ohio House Representative Dennis Kucinich has called “for sale.” 

In addition, cautionary tales abound in the globe’s poverty-stricken regions, where prices on water are raised to heights that are unaffordable to portions of the population.  The end result is that social unrest sets in.  What can a semi-arid region already entangled in “water-wars,” like Colorado, expect to see with the additional pressures of international bottling companies?

The second part of the evening featured a presentation by Jim Olson, the Michigan based attorney who fought Nestlé for nine years with some significant victories.  He spoke at Thursday evening’s event thanks to efforts by Nestlé’s formal, local opposition, Chaffee Citizens for Sustainability (CCFS).  Olson’s message was simple and optimistic:  Nestlé can still be turned back, Chaffee County can do it. 

But he also warned that the stakes are high, urging people to remember that, “This is not a dead issue.  It’s just been born.  Their (the Commissioners) vote gave birth to the issue of beneficial use in Colorado.”  Nestlé’s move to Chaffee County, he warned, could set a dangerous and unanticipated precedent.

The precedent Olson refers to is the jurisdiction of the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA.  Olson indicated that supporters of Nestlé might consider that NAFTA currently holds no power over Colorado’s Public Water systems.  But, with the slow creep of water from a publicly held right to a privately held commodity, Chaffee County’s children could someday compete with Canada and Mexico for access at the kitchen faucet.

County Commissioners who ran for election based on keeping water in the Valley along with speeches regarding green as the color of the future, may have reneged on their promises in more ways than they understand.  That’s because once water is privatized, it is very difficult to fend off international intervention.

Olson encouraged folks, however, not to get bogged down with what has passed, but rather to look forward to what can be done.  He reminded the large SteamPlant crowd that the Commissioners’ approval is only one minor gateway on the path to Nestlé’s pumping operations.  For example, Nestlé still needs to get past State water engineers and have its plans approved by the State Water Court, which can be a lengthy process.

While the word “recall” was heard in association with the current Commissioners, the focus was largely on defeating Nestlé rather than punishing elected officials.  In that vein, Olson says there is plenty to do, including:

1.  Funds must be raised to combat the bottler in the Water Court.

2.  Local opposition must get vocal and energized.  Olson reminded people that this campaign is not to be short lived.  Nestlé is not defeated overnight, but in the long run.

3.  Records should be scoured via the Freedom of Information act in order to examine every interaction Nestlé has with public officials.

4.  Send letters to the governor and legislators and let them know that Colorado wants to keep its water public.

5.  Join forces with CCFS to help create a long-range plan to combat not only the current erroneous use of Colorado’s water, but also any future incursions.  You can donate time, money, or any other skill you have.

Olson also reminded everyone with a stake in the future of the area’s water resources that, “You in Colorado have a chance to draw the line on beneficial water use and use your constitution to say that water is for the people.”

He concluded, “You can define this popularly.  It’s the public that has to say, ‘this water is ours and this use of it is wrong.’”

For more information, to donate money, or to get involved, contact Chaffee Citizens for Sustainability at: CCFSustainability@gmail.com or call719-239-0772.

Jim Olson discusses his years of battling Nestle in Michigan and explains why the fight has only just begun.

 

This entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 7:34 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.