It boggles the mind: in a time of depleting water resources, 'droughting' aquifers, widespread understanding that access to water is nothing less than access to Life, and rampant, transparent cases of corporate irresponsibility and disregard for the consumer... how can a giant like Nestle win a water-bottling contract in the first place??? A promise of more jobs, more prosperity, thus, more SUVs, more widescreen TVs,..? Is this, California, what makes life worth living???? Keep it up Californians and their won't be much Life left to keep up!!! Don't Americans ever learn?????
Thank you, Attorney General Brown!

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Good for McCloud and AG Brown!

Once the Nestle parasites get their hooks into a community, there is no way to get rid of them. I know because Nestle has gradually industrialized 3 natural springs in my rural community in eastern Pennsylvania. They withdraw 3 million gallons per week and have destroyed the native trout habitat. The water is trucked 15 miles away and bottled as Deer Park Spring Water.

The Nestle parasite is pernicious. They originally took over an existing water extraction operation on one spring, later enclosed and piped a second spring in a community park as a "bribe" to local officials, and now they are catching water in a third spring and piping it to the first spring.

They are doing this in communities throughout North and South America. Please consider boycotting all Nestle products.

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From the Portland Press-Herald, 7/30/08

Decision Doesn't Answer Water Questions:

A battle over a water district's deal with Poland Spring may have ended, but Maine needs statewide policies.

The Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Wells Water District recently tabled a thirty year agreement with Nestle, parent company of Poland Spring water. This decision to turn down millions of dollars was made only after hundreds of citizens united in opposition and made their voices heard.

That may have ended this battle but the larger issue remains: "Does Maine want to increase its role as a water exporting state?"

It is not fair to have a multi-national giant like Nestle go town to town until they tie up all the water resources they can. After all, it is said, "Water is the next oil." These towns lack the resources to independently educate the public and make decisions about their most precious natural resource that will affect several generations.

Therefore we ask the State of Maine take a leadership role and form policy that will protect groundwater as it presently does surface water.

Vermont has enacted this type of legislation and a similar bill hopefully will be submitted to the next legislature. Only then will a discussion take place that will address:

1) Water Abundance: Do we have an excess or a limitless supply? To hear the Nestle engineers the answer would be "Yes." But independent research is needed to assure citizens we can safely increase our role as a water exporting state without adversely affect ground water tables in adjacent property.

2)Traffic: Where does this water get extracted and how does it travel to its bottling plant(s) and to the turnpike and the stores where it is purchased? Presently, one hundred truck trips are made daily on Route 112 between the Poland Spring Hollis plant and the Saco entrance to the turnpike. Waste water also travels in takers daily from Hollis to Old Orchard Beach along the same route. These roads were never made to handle this volume of traffic. And Nestle wants to ratchet up output of this and other plants.

3) Taxes: What is the State and Municipal revenue stream? If it were any other natural resource (oil, gas, coal, etc.) extracted from Maine land it would be taxed. Why does Nestle get a free pass? The State and municipal budgets and ultimately the state taxpayers sure could use the help!
4) Other Large Commercial Water Users: Luckily, the KKW Water District was approached by Nestle and it was fairly easy to rally people given their track record here and overseas.

But what if it had been Fred Forsley of Shipyard Beer or Stan Bennett of Oakhurst Dairy (who also sells bottled spring water) wanting a similar agreement for thirty years of water?

My guess is that because these are examples of fine Maine companies, the outcome may have been different. Therefore, we believe the State needs to enact legislation that treats all large commercial users equally and fairly.

Be careful what you ask for! We know there will be an army of Nestle and other lobbyists but it will be balanced by citizens from across this state that have already been impacted by this vacuum left by the State's inaction.

Once this discussion has taken place in Augusta, we can then move forward with policies and legislation in place that protect our most valuable resource: water.

About the author: Al Sicard is a Saco resident and executive director of DemCorps.org

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As long as the people are lazy as sin and dumb about carrying their own personal water bottle around with them an filling it as needed, and paranoid about water quality, merchandising Pre bottled water is a cash cow.

Lazy ass Americans are addicted to convenience. Just reach and buy off the shelf seems to be Oh so much easier than actually taking a lid off a simple canteen and filling a bottle yourself.

Only a corporation the size of Nestles can afford to engage in such a lucrative enterprise. The size that could bring $$$$ to Siskiyou county which has a thin budget compared to more urban counties. Otherwise we could all start running water hoses and filling bottles and letting our kids sell them instead of lemonade stands on the neighborhood streets.

But too, the McCLoud river feeds into Lake Shasta., one of two of the biggest reservoirs in the State of CA. That lake this year is at 40% of it's capacity. No one knows how much rain fall will pour down in the following winter. But with such serious water concerns as the west faces, WATER is for sale to the highest bidder.
Only humans absorbed with an economic model driven by capitalism would feed on the misfortune of others with the profit motive. But it's universal. "There's a sucker born ever minute".

SO the question is, are people going to allow their selves to remain stupid suckers?
Buying bottled water is blasfamy, a sin of the highest order.

Though too, remember the corporate system, as it is, depends on a continues increase, or "growth" as they say, in order to keep people buying and holding stocks in the institution to feed the blood suckers at the top of the feeding chain. The objective is lasy ass leasure for the few while draining the populus as whole of their lifes blood.

SO I suggest anyone really concerned to "follow the money". Ask who in the McCloud Community Service District is getting the graft?

As well until people start understandinging how much fuel is used (wasted) to transport water around the world in trucks ships and planes, let alone that which is in the bottles, and is use in just bringing together the infrastructure in establishing a water bottling facility they will be trading water for oil. Now that sounds socially iresponsible in light of the concerns over conservation of energy resources.

Doesn't the word conservative have it's root in conservation?

Curious how it's an oxymoron when it comes to business isn't it?

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Some time ago the residents of Oregon and Northern California proposed the formation of the State of Jefferson because of shared interests and values. Those people opposed the greedy, heartless profiteers who were ruining the southern half of California. It's good to see the same spirit is still alive and well. I live in southern Oregon, not that far away from Mc Cloud, and want to help preserve my home from the avaricious hooks of those scumbags, too.

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Bottled water company growth will only stop when we stop drinking bottled water. People will only stop drinking bottled water when it becomes immoral to do so. We point and laugh at those who drive hummers now that we know we went to war for oil ($4.00 a gallon gas doesn't hurt either). Until we start pointing and laughing at those who drink bottled water, Nestle, Coke and Pepsi will continue on their merry way.

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I still remember dumb ass McCain and his " Getting bottled HOT water to third world countries so babies don't die." For the cost to the country and pollution bottled water causes, you could drill them a well and then they ain't beholden to no one. Nestle does not have a good track record in third world counties. Clean water to third world countries,is made out to be harder than it really is. They just can't resist, dictators or politicians in making poor people political pawns.

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