Nestlé Just Gained Control Over This Town’s Water for the Next 45 Years

[Snarkoleptic]

http://usuncut.com/news/nestle-water-deal-fryeburg-maine/

Tea Party Republican Governor Paul LePage of Maine helped Nestlé secure a contract that gives Poland Springs, a Nestlé subsidiary, permission to take the small town of Fryeburg’s groundwater for the next 25 years for their own profit. The deal could stretch to 45 years due to built-in extensions.

Today that deal was upheld by Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court, essentially cutting off activists’ last attempts to scuttle the deal.

There has never been a contract that ties up local water resources for such a long period of time in American history. Water activists worry that this could set a precedent for future corporate attempts to take water from rural towns for extended periods of time.

[bkkyosemite]

1. Unbelievable!

[Snarkoleptic]

2. We are labor units and consumers, rather than citizens.

The commons are prizes to be plucked to benefit our corporate masters.

This part gets me really agitated-

“Our local municipal water supplier for Fryeburg, Maine, is run by a private company,” Sekera said. “So it’s not run by a municipality… [so] they can engage in contracts with corporations such as Nestlé much easier. It benefits their shareholders and Nestlé because it’s not publicly run and managed, which helps them get what they want.”

Maine has what’s called “absolute dominion” laws with respect to groundwater, which, as Sekera put it, “basically equates to whoever has the biggest straw wins. So you own the property, you own all the water mining rights under your property. And it doesn’t protect us from global water predators such as Nestlé.”

[northernsouthern]

3. Water...

...one of the most undervalued commodities and we sell it off at the drop of a hat.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. The Governor needs to be removed!

Nestle is so very evil. I am heartbroken and furious to read this.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. N-E-S-T-L-E-S

Nestles takes the very best
Water

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. They sure do, the rotten thieves. n/t

[Feeling the Bern]

8. Removed: It's called an election. . .and LePage was elected and then re-elected

Sorry, Maine. . .you get what you voted for. No sympathy at all. And I'm from Arizona, home of Brewer and Doug Douchey.

A plurality win for LePage is still a win.

You vote Republican, you get Republican policies. I can't stress or scream this enough.

[pmorlan1]

5. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

This makes me so freakin angry

[Shandris]

7. Things like this didn't happen 100 years ago.

I wonder what's changed since then.

[C Moon]

10. Corporations are not people, they are cancer.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. I have always thought

that I would retire to a water rich state like Ohio, or other Great Lake state, when the time comes. But you know what? They will own the Great Lakes soon. Fracking will destroy the ground water. The only plus is the lack of tornados, but with climate change, who knows whether that will remain true. I feel sorry for my grandchildren.

[elmac]

12. Nestlé has 2 plants in our town in West MI

One a water bottling plant, the other Gerber Baby Foods which they bought years ago. I don't know how much the water plant pumps out each day but the baby food plant probably uses a few million gallons a day (I use to test and keep track of the water usage for this plant years ago). The water table here is historically high so we don't miss it but mother nature could throw a wrench in the works some day.

[jtuck004]

13. This really ought to start a jihad against Nestle. Bad idea to let this stand,

law or no law.

I think this is gonna cost you more than you can possibly know if they continue their campaign of violence without any resistance.

You will likely be dead when they deny your kids water because of this, but that will be the legacy. The destruction leading to it has already started.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. Someday we'll look back at this era and say,

"Do you remembered we laughed when people said, 'at least they can't water down the water.'"