50 Unterschriften erreicht
An: Green Party Switzerland; Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
Stop Nestle’s private transfer of 'water wealth'
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Several communities from the US and Canada affected by Nestlé's Water Business sent a letter to the Swiss Green Party and to the Swiss Socialist Party requesting their support. Following their request, we ask that your organization raise the following questions through any public media and legislative means at your disposal:
• Is Nestlé selling the land, wells, permits and contracts to the private equity firms, or only the facilities, operations and brands?
• Will Nestlé “invest all the money they withdraw from (US and Canada) in the emerging countries in order to provide the population of these countries with access to water” as stated publicly (Feb 19, SRF/10vor10) by Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP/ZH)
• Can the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency-SDC be trusted to protect the right of communities around the world to access free and clean drinking water when Christian Frutiger, (former Head of Nestlé Public Affairs) serves as it Vice-Director?
• Is Nestlé selling the land, wells, permits and contracts to the private equity firms, or only the facilities, operations and brands?
• Will Nestlé “invest all the money they withdraw from (US and Canada) in the emerging countries in order to provide the population of these countries with access to water” as stated publicly (Feb 19, SRF/10vor10) by Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP/ZH)
• Can the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency-SDC be trusted to protect the right of communities around the world to access free and clean drinking water when Christian Frutiger, (former Head of Nestlé Public Affairs) serves as it Vice-Director?
Warum ist das wichtig?
As you may know, Nestle has recently announced the sale of its North American waters business to two private equity firms for US$4.3 billion, one of the largest transfers of private water wealth in recent memory. We are writing to ask for your public support for and solidarity with our efforts. Specifically, your organization can support people in communities in Canada and the US by seeking the return of Nestlé’s properties to public control and stewardship and endorsing these three demands of the company:
1. Return to public stewardship the sites where Nestle´ extracts water for bottling, and
specifically return the Aberfoyle complex in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada to Six
Nations of the Grand River.
2. Restore the sources of these troubled waters and renew investment in public water
infrastructure to ensure affordable, accessible and clean water for all.
3. Fulfill any outstanding commitments to local communities and bind the purchasers of
Nestlé's assets to fully fulfill any ongoing environmental or community benefit
agreements.
Nestle´ takes millions of gallons of forest groundwater in southern California from the 5,000 ft elevation headwaters of Strawberry Creek. The water is extracted from a series of horizontal wells bored hundreds of feet into the mountainside draining San Bernardino National Forest groundwater, piping it miles away to a centralized trucking site. Nestle´ refuses to comply with limits proposed by the California State Water Resources Control Board.
Nestlé mines water from ten towns in Maine, exporting more than 1 billion gallons of water per year. In some locations in Maine, they pay nothing for the water they take. Community Water Justice Maine
Nestlé draws from 7 spring sites in the state of Florida for processing and bottles water at 3 large scale industrial plants diverting a million-gallons-per-day from the Santa Fe River which is flowing 30% below historical levels due to over pumping. Our Santa Fe River Inc.
Nestle´ bottles water at its Aberfoyle plant in Ontario, Canada taking water claimed by Indigenous people in contravention of a cease-and-desist order issued by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council (traditional leadership of Six Nations of the Grand) in 2019. Wellington Water Watchers
Of equal consequence, Nestle´ pays next to nothing for the water it extracts and sells for profit in many communities in the US. In some communities its right to take the water is in dispute. Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation
1. Return to public stewardship the sites where Nestle´ extracts water for bottling, and
specifically return the Aberfoyle complex in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada to Six
Nations of the Grand River.
2. Restore the sources of these troubled waters and renew investment in public water
infrastructure to ensure affordable, accessible and clean water for all.
3. Fulfill any outstanding commitments to local communities and bind the purchasers of
Nestlé's assets to fully fulfill any ongoing environmental or community benefit
agreements.
Nestle´ takes millions of gallons of forest groundwater in southern California from the 5,000 ft elevation headwaters of Strawberry Creek. The water is extracted from a series of horizontal wells bored hundreds of feet into the mountainside draining San Bernardino National Forest groundwater, piping it miles away to a centralized trucking site. Nestle´ refuses to comply with limits proposed by the California State Water Resources Control Board.
Nestlé mines water from ten towns in Maine, exporting more than 1 billion gallons of water per year. In some locations in Maine, they pay nothing for the water they take. Community Water Justice Maine
Nestlé draws from 7 spring sites in the state of Florida for processing and bottles water at 3 large scale industrial plants diverting a million-gallons-per-day from the Santa Fe River which is flowing 30% below historical levels due to over pumping. Our Santa Fe River Inc.
Nestle´ bottles water at its Aberfoyle plant in Ontario, Canada taking water claimed by Indigenous people in contravention of a cease-and-desist order issued by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council (traditional leadership of Six Nations of the Grand) in 2019. Wellington Water Watchers
Of equal consequence, Nestle´ pays next to nothing for the water it extracts and sells for profit in many communities in the US. In some communities its right to take the water is in dispute. Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation