Nestlé Plan on Hold in Southern Maine

It's another day, another bad water mining contract for Nestlé's water barons. This time, the multinational corporation trained its sights on Southern Maine's Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells (KKW) Water District.Yet citizens in Maine dealt a blow to the bottled water giant this month. On July 18, the KKW Water District decided to "indefinitely table" Nestlé's proposal to drain 500,000 gallons a day from the water district over the next thirty years and sell it around the country as Poland Spring brand bottled water.The decision was a huge victory for the citizens of Kennebunk, and for water warriors across New England. Though Nestle already extracts millions of gallons of water a day from Maine's fragile ecosystem, with nine different mining sites statewide, Nestlé's most recent proposal would have added two more wells to the list.Food & Water Watch and allies at Defending Water For Life in Maine joined with local residents to stay one step ahead of Nestlé. On June 25th, over 150 citizens gathered at the steps of the KKW Water District to voice opposition to the plan. Speakers from the impacted communities, from Rangeley to Shapleigh to Fryeburg, spoke eloquently about the risk of traffic problems, environmental damage, and exploitation of Maine's natural resources."Bottled water companies are pounding on the door of one community after another," observed Emily Posner with the Defending Water in Maine campaign. "We're designating water as a part of the Commons, where everyone has the right to use water and no one has the right to sell it for profit. We're also saying we want our economic development controlled by the residents of this great state, not by Nestlé."The June action resulted in the formation of a new citizens' group, Save Our Water (SOH20), which has devoted itself to holding petition drives, meeting with town leaders, and generating a wave of local press around preventing the Nestlé bottled water plant. Send the winning activists congratulations and encourage them on to their next success.From Food & Water Watch's CURRENTS Your Newsletter on Water Privatization July 2008 Food & Water Watch is a national consumer advocacy non-profit organization. We fight corporate control of agriculture and water utilities through policy, education, and outreach.