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Nestle's bottled water business exposed

Mike Brady | 22.07.2005 19:50 | Ecology | Globalisation

The damaging environmental impact of Nestle's water bottling operations in Brazil and the US were featured on BBC Face the Facts today. Baby Milk Action, which coordinates the boycott of Nestle over its aggressive baby food marketing has additional information on its website.

The damaging environmental impact of Nestlé's bottled water business

22 July 2005

BBC Face the Facts (22 July 2005) investigated the damaging impact of Nestle's bottled water business in Brazil and the United States. In Sao Lourenco in Brazil, Nestle's pumping in an historic mineral water park is blamed for ruining the healing springs on which tourism in the small town is based. Contrary to federal law, Nestle demineralised the water to manufacture its Pure Life brand. While Nestle claims there has been no negative impact, tests commissioned by the BBC and official government test results found the opposite.

Nestlé built its Pure Life factory and surrounding wall in the area of high risk to the aquifer, contrary to Federal Law (DNPM 231/98) - see map below. Trees close to Nestlé's borehole (from which it was pumping over half a million litres per day) are dying (see picture on Baby Milk Action website).

The Public Prosecutor in the town, Pedro Paulo Aina, brought a legal action for compensation after campaigners gathered 3,000 petition signatures, prompting an investigation. He told the programme:

"We begin an inquiry to find the facts and after about seven months of investigation we came to the conclusion that there were two principle and fundamental problems. The illegal nature of the exploitation of the Primavera Spring and the over-exploitation of the mineral water aquifer. The excessive exploitation is dangerous not only for tourism, and the whole city lives on tourism, but also in the sense that it puts at risk a gift of nature that is not just Sao Lourenco's but of all humanity."

The legal action stopped exploitation only briefly as Nestle won an appeal to continue working while the case was heard. Four years later, the case is still tied up in the courts.

A similar story was found at Sanctuary Springs in Michigan in the US. Campaigners there won a legal battle to stop over-exploitation after they found changes to water levels, most dramatically where a stream had dried up, in an area of ecologically significant marshland. Lawyer, Jim Olson, told the programme: "The judge ultimately in the case shut down the well and concluded that there was no property right or legal right or water right for a company to extract water in a fashion that would diminish the flow or reduce the level of any lake, stream or wetland." Yet again, Nestle appealed to continue operating while the case is heard and, again, the case is tied up in the courts.

Baby Milk Action's Campaigns and Networking Coordinator, Mike Brady, recently visited São Lourenço with Franklin Fredrick, a member of Brazil's National Health Council Working Group on Mineral Water, also interviewed by the BBC, and has prepared an in-depth article examining Nestlé's illegal activities, the protracted legal battle to stop them and the impact on the town.

Those familiar with the baby milk campaign will not be surprised to learn that Nestlé is involved in changing the way the bottled water industry is regulated in Brazil which potentially could see Pure Life production resuming in the future.

Nestle acquired the water park in the historic spa town of São Lourenço in 1992 when it took over Perrier. In 1996, without authorisation, it sank 158 metre deep wells into the aquifer and later began producing its Pure Life brand of processed water. Pure Life production was stopped in October 2004 as demineralizing the precious waters from the park is against Federal Law. However, the campaign continues as Nestlé is still pumping water so it can extract the gas to carbonate other brands. For a past Baby Milk Action article on this case see  http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=580

Federal Deputy, Dr. Rosinha (see picture on Baby Milk Action website) organised a public hearing into Nestlé's Pure Life operation before the Consumer Defence Committee in the House of Congress on 1 July 2004 after Nestlé challenged an order paralizing water extraction in court. The head of the regulatory authority, DNPM, spoke at the hearing.

The Congress journal reports: "According to DNPM, the contract for Nestle to exploit mineral waters in the Park of Sao Lourenco does not permit the expansion of wells, which requires new environmental impact studies, that had not been done. The director of DNPM also said that the demineralisation of water is against the fundamental principles of the Mineral Water Code, that requires the integral protection of mineral salts."

If you are interested in publishing Mike Brady's in-depth article and pictures from the São Lourenço case contact  mikebrady@babymilkaction.org This is backed by legal and other documents, such as the Aquifer Vulnerability Map from Nestlé's own Environmental Impact Assessment shown below (produced when it attempted to obtain retrospective permission for its actitivies.

Nestlé's factory was extended to produce Pure Life and a wall built around it without the permission required under Federal Law in the area of highest risk to the aquifer (see picture on Baby Milk Action website). The wall is 4 metres high and extends 7 metres into the ground and forms part of Nestlé's system for exploiting the aquifer.

(You can listen on-line and find a transcript at  http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/index_face_the_facts.shtml Find Nestlé's response and some photos at  http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/facethefacts/gallery/gallery_brazil_spa.shtml.)

For a wealth of information in Portuguese see the website  http://www.circuitodasaguas.org/





Mike Brady
- e-mail: mikebrady@babymilkaction.org
- Homepage: http://www.babymilkaction.org/

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

A terrible thing

22.07.2005 20:16

Terrible. Sooner it stops the better.

And remember this story is brought to you by the BBC who our G8 anarchist friends described as the stool pigeons of the capitalist establishment. Hmmm. Not Nestle's favourite people, then, eh?

Observer


The BBC have been brave

22.07.2005 20:46

I'm writing this from Brazil where I have been fortunate to meet the campaigners who made the Sao Lourenco case an international issue. Nestle does all it can to keep any negative story out of the media. I met the editor of a small local paper in Sao Lourenco, publication run 5,000, who had been sued by Nestle for reporting on the damage to the water park. With the help of a friend who is a lawyer he won the case, but spent time and money doing so and didn't have the resources to counter sue to recover costs and lost income. He told me he thinks Nestle uses the law to intimidate, tie people up and cost them money. A journalist at a national paper had similar legal threats after writing about the case.

The BBC carries a lot of weight here. Now they have covered this story there is a chance it will make it into the media in Brazil and progress will be made. If we didn't have the BBC to take a stand who, amongst the mainstream media, is there? Nestle has, I believe, the UK's biggest advertising and promotional budget and commercial channels are very reluctant to lose their slice of it.

Mike Brady
- Homepage: http://www.babymilkaction.org/


Re- A terrible thing

23.07.2005 13:29


To the author of ' a terrible thing'
I'm not sure that you fully understand the workings of the corporate media, so here's a brief clarification.
Being a part of the capitalist system, it is obvious that the BBC et al will wish to prevent the collapse of that system. However, this does not prevent them from picking up on individual 'scandals' which will damage the credibility of one company, but make no assertion that this is in any way tied to capitalism in a broader sense. In a similae scenario, the BBC were able to provide a strongly anti-war opinion during the Iraq war, for the reason that the majority of protestors disagreed with one part of the contemporary capitalist system - occupation of Iraq.
However, those of us who were a Gleneagles will NEVER get favourable coverage from these institutuions, as we make it clear that we are against the entire capitalist system, not just facets or small parts of it, you see?
The BBC et al depends on capitalism, as it is a part of capitalism, and as it has access to such a large audience, it will do all in its power to misrepresent anarchists/anti-capitalists etc, as we pose a fundemental threat to the very nature of the BBC, something which Nestle doesn't.

company scandal (replete with failure to condemn corporate system ) = newsworthy

Groups with well thought out aruguments condemning entire capitalism sytem = censure or misportrayal

SMASH NESTLE, SMASH THE BBC, SMASH THE SYSTEM
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE!!

J2K (A)*

J2K


Ah but

25.07.2005 22:26

"SMASH NESTLE, SMASH THE BBC, SMASH THE SYSTEM
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE!! "

And if you can't convince the public? If you remain a small but very vocal minority? What do you intend to do then?

Paranoid Pete