Local Communities Battle Nesle For Water Rights
January 8th, 2008
For those of you that haven’t put Trout Underground (TU) on your RSS, do yourself a favor and do so now. Written by Tom Chandler, our bearded flying fishing blogging brother to the north (Shasta), it’s probably one of the best written and engaging blogs out there. Granted he writes about fish too much, and picture after picture of trout gets a bit tedious, but it’s still worth it. Especially when he goes off topic. To tell you the truth, he may not think of himself in this way, but he’s one of the most politically active outdoor bloggers out there. One of the issues he’s been writing about for over the last year is Nestle Corp’s nefarious attempts at strong arm small communities into giving up water for their bottled water plants. They use scientists on their payroll to try and provide environmental justifications that are blatant (that’s my read anyway) lies to get their way and if that doesn’t work, litigate endlessly to try and push through their plans. Tom has been good about highlighting the various battles across the country, including one in his own backyard. The latest post is about a town in Maine fighting Nestle all the way to the state supreme court where the company argued “that their right to grow their market share superceded the town?s right of self-determination.” I’m far from the expert on the subject, so read Tom’s posts to educate yourself:
- A Small Town in Maine Says “No” to Nestle. So What Does Our “Good Neighbor” Do? They Sue. And Sue. And Sue?
- Nestle Wants McCloud?s Water and Most of Michigan?s Too?
- Court Reverses Prior Ruling, Says Nestle Contract Valid. Town of McCloud Sells Soul? Cheaply.
- Nestle Sucks Water From Town Water Supply While Residents Asked to Use Less
- Friday Fun With That Zany Bunch at Nestle
- In the “One Small Step?” Department: Nestle Abandons Pumping Plans in Michigan