09-19-2008, 01:26 AM
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]![[Image: happy.gif]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/happy.gif)
[/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle Tears Up McCloud Contract[/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]8/20/2008[/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4][/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Facing a barrage of criticism, Nestle Waters North America cancelled its contract to build a water bottling plant in the Northern California town of McCloud. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]While Nestle has suggested they will pursue a new contract, power has now shifted back to the community to consider the best options for the local economy and health of the watershed. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]The McCloud Community Services District can now choose to sign a new contract with Nestle, sign with another company or turn away any offers. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]The announcement comes on the heals of a letter sent to the Siskiyou County Planning Department by California Attorney General Jerry Brown which criticized the initial Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and listed a number of concerns with the project. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]In the letter, written by Deputy AG Deborah Slon, the AG’s office expresses, “hope that our comments on the deficiencies of that document will provide some guidance to Nestle and the County in revising the project and the EIR”. The letter lists a number of these deficiencies which include: [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o Failure to analyze global warming impacts [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o Lack of evaluations to air quality [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o An inadequate project description [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o An inadequate description of baseline environmental conditions [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o An inadequate analysis of biological impacts and mitigation measures [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o Failure to address impacts of waste generation [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle’s plans for the area have attracted controversy since their inception in 2003 when the company bought the site of a former lumber mill in McCloud and signed a 99-year contract with the District to bottle 1,600 acre-feet of spring water annually for $300,000. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Local residents formed the McCloud Watershed Council to oppose the deal. Soon after, they were joined by CalTrout and Trout Unlimited to form the Protect Our Waters Coalition (protectourwaters.org). The coalition was concerned with the lack of public input or environmental review and the impact on the region’s water, wildlife and quality of life. Specifically the coalition thought the contract gave Nestle too much control for too long and for too little money. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle's unpredcedented cancellation of an existing contract was due to several factors -- effective opposition, failure to satisfy the California Environmental Quality Act, and growing nationwide criticism of the bottled water industry. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]In the fall of 2006, Siskiyou County released a Draft EIR for the proposed plant that was sharply criticized by CalTrout, the California AG's office, and others. It also generated over 4,000 public comments. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Faced with withering criticism, Nestle withdrew its support of the Draft EIR by the summer of 2007 and asked the County to dismiss it and draft a new one with input from local residents and CalTrout. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]This past summer, Nestle announced that they intended to scale back the size of the plant and conduct two to three years of baseline studies of the area’s hydrology. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]David Palais, Nestle’s Northern California natural resource manager, said the company will now seek permission to pump just 200 million gallons and build a smaller plant of 350,000 square feet. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle’s original plans called for 1 million-square-foot facility that would bottle water from a variety of local sources including groundwater and water diverted from the McCloud River watershed. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Although the company agreed to conduct additional scientific study, it has not yet committed to delaying contract talks for a plant until such study is complete. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Now three years later, Nestle’s plan to bottle up the area’s water on the cheap seems in trouble. They’ve scaled back their planned plant by two thirds; gone from no EIR to a flawed one to we can only hope a comprehensive one; and now need a new contract that will likely receive all the public input and environmental review that the original lacked. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]So that the town can make an informed decision, CalTrout is urging the Community Services District to hold off on a new contract until an EIR is completed and certified. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]While it is too soon to claim a victory, the battle has turned decidedly in the coalition's favor. CalTrout would like to thank all of our members for making this possible. Hundreds of you sent emails to the Siskiyou Planning Department asking for a comprehensive EIR and many responded to our urgent appeals for funding. You made this possible.[/size][/#008000][/font]
[signature]
[/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle Tears Up McCloud Contract[/size][/#008000][/font][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]8/20/2008[/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4][/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Facing a barrage of criticism, Nestle Waters North America cancelled its contract to build a water bottling plant in the Northern California town of McCloud. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]While Nestle has suggested they will pursue a new contract, power has now shifted back to the community to consider the best options for the local economy and health of the watershed. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]The McCloud Community Services District can now choose to sign a new contract with Nestle, sign with another company or turn away any offers. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]The announcement comes on the heals of a letter sent to the Siskiyou County Planning Department by California Attorney General Jerry Brown which criticized the initial Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and listed a number of concerns with the project. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]In the letter, written by Deputy AG Deborah Slon, the AG’s office expresses, “hope that our comments on the deficiencies of that document will provide some guidance to Nestle and the County in revising the project and the EIR”. The letter lists a number of these deficiencies which include: [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o Failure to analyze global warming impacts [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o Lack of evaluations to air quality [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o An inadequate project description [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o An inadequate description of baseline environmental conditions [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o An inadequate analysis of biological impacts and mitigation measures [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]o Failure to address impacts of waste generation [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle’s plans for the area have attracted controversy since their inception in 2003 when the company bought the site of a former lumber mill in McCloud and signed a 99-year contract with the District to bottle 1,600 acre-feet of spring water annually for $300,000. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Local residents formed the McCloud Watershed Council to oppose the deal. Soon after, they were joined by CalTrout and Trout Unlimited to form the Protect Our Waters Coalition (protectourwaters.org). The coalition was concerned with the lack of public input or environmental review and the impact on the region’s water, wildlife and quality of life. Specifically the coalition thought the contract gave Nestle too much control for too long and for too little money. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle's unpredcedented cancellation of an existing contract was due to several factors -- effective opposition, failure to satisfy the California Environmental Quality Act, and growing nationwide criticism of the bottled water industry. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]In the fall of 2006, Siskiyou County released a Draft EIR for the proposed plant that was sharply criticized by CalTrout, the California AG's office, and others. It also generated over 4,000 public comments. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Faced with withering criticism, Nestle withdrew its support of the Draft EIR by the summer of 2007 and asked the County to dismiss it and draft a new one with input from local residents and CalTrout. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]This past summer, Nestle announced that they intended to scale back the size of the plant and conduct two to three years of baseline studies of the area’s hydrology. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]David Palais, Nestle’s Northern California natural resource manager, said the company will now seek permission to pump just 200 million gallons and build a smaller plant of 350,000 square feet. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Nestle’s original plans called for 1 million-square-foot facility that would bottle water from a variety of local sources including groundwater and water diverted from the McCloud River watershed. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Although the company agreed to conduct additional scientific study, it has not yet committed to delaying contract talks for a plant until such study is complete. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Now three years later, Nestle’s plan to bottle up the area’s water on the cheap seems in trouble. They’ve scaled back their planned plant by two thirds; gone from no EIR to a flawed one to we can only hope a comprehensive one; and now need a new contract that will likely receive all the public input and environmental review that the original lacked. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]So that the town can make an informed decision, CalTrout is urging the Community Services District to hold off on a new contract until an EIR is completed and certified. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]While it is too soon to claim a victory, the battle has turned decidedly in the coalition's favor. CalTrout would like to thank all of our members for making this possible. Hundreds of you sent emails to the Siskiyou Planning Department asking for a comprehensive EIR and many responded to our urgent appeals for funding. You made this possible.[/size][/#008000][/font]
[signature]
![[Image: 36_1_34.gif]](http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_34.gif)
[/url]Some times we can make a difference.