@danon5,
Good evening danaon5 and all.
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Some good news in Michigan. Small steps anyways.
Water bottler, environmentalists settle dispute
BY DAWSON BELL • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • July 8, 2009
The makers of Ice Mountain bottled water and a group of environmentalists who waged a decadelong legal fight against the company's use of groundwater from wells in northern Michigan announced Tuesday they had settled their issues.
Under the agreement, Nestlé Waters North America can pump water at an average of 218 gallons per minute (about 313,000 gallons a day), with restrictions on spring and summer withdrawals, from well sites north of Big Rapids.
The deal was reached on the eve of what was expected to be a weeklong court hearing on requested modifications of an earlier, temporary agreement.
Terry Swier, president of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, called the resolution a major victory for defenders of the groundwater, affirming limits first placed on Nestlé by a Mecosta County judge in 2003. Swier said "there definitely have been adverse impacts" to the Dead Stream, Thompson Lake and adjacent wetlands, but the environmental group believes the new rate is sustainable.
Nestlé spokeswoman Deb Muchmore said the deal was "a win for both sides," protecting the resource while allowing the company to maintain bottling operations that employ about 250 people.
Muchmore said withdrawals of the same, approximate size as those permitted under the settlement have been occurring since May 2002 with "virtually no environmental harm." Water depths in the Dead Stream, which is near the area in which the wells are located, have declined by no more than one-eighth of an inch since pumping began, she said.
