Source: www.addictinginfo.org (Thanks to Collectively Conscious), Original Post Date: June 14, 2015

It’s not just California that is experiencing drought conditions. Most of the West is also feeling the effects of low snow pack and, consequently, less available fresh water. In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown has declared a drought emergency in 19 Oregon counties. Water tables, rivers, lakes and other fresh water sources are well below normal in the state. So why is Oregon considering allowing Nestlé to build a bottling plant along the Columbia River?

There are a myriad of reasons why this is a terrible idea. But to begin with, let’s look at why Nestlé is a horrible company… Former CEO Tim Brown is an asshole, first of all. There’s just no other word for him and his patrician attitude. This is the man who told a NASA hydrologist that he didn’t feel guilty at all for stealing California water for his Arrowhead brand bottled water. For which, by the way, they did not have the proper permits to take. Oh, and Tim Brown also believes that water is not a basic human right. Hmmm… maybe “asshole” is an understatement. Though his successor, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, says he disagrees with this, the companies actions belie his words.

Not satisfied with raping the California water system, Nestlé has set its sights on Oregon. Along the Columbia River sits the small town of Cascade Locks. Most people pass through on their way to the Dalles, some stopping to view the dam and the town’s namesake locks. Those locks are essential to the salmon and the town boasts a salmon hatchery, where coho, sockeye and Grande Ronde are hatched and raised. Nestlé wants to put a new bottling plant in Cascade Locks and the deal is nearing completion despite petitions, protests and 80,000 letters opposing the plant.

The proposed deal is outrageous and a horrible one for Oregonians. The water that would be pumped would come from Oxbow Springs, which is owned by the state and administered by Oregon Fish and Wildlife. This would be gotten around by bureaucratic sleight of hand (which I don’t quite understand but nevertheless…), wherein the town trades its local well water for the Oxbow Springs water which would then be sold to Nestlé. The company would then pay the town the standard municipal rate of $2.25 per 1,000 gallons or $0.00225 per gallon. They will then turn around and sell the water for up to $2.63 per gallon. That’s about a 99% profit margin.

Oh, and the plant would create 48 jobs. Wow. That’s pretty underwhelming. And an atrocious trade-off. Forty-eight jobs in exchange for this precious resource:

And then there’s the infrastructure. Nestlé has said that they won’t help pay for the roads they would use. Those 200 semi-truck trips through town every day would tear up the roads real fast. And Nestlé doesn’t give a damn, willing to let the millions of dollars of upkeep land squarely on the Oregon taxpayer. Additionally, the plant will generate 64-122 million kg. of CO2 annually.

This is a bad deal. We’ve seen that Nestlé doesn’t give a damn about anything but its profit margin. It would virtually steal the water from the town of Cascade Locks and sell it for a huge profit. Meanwhile, Oregon suffers from a drought the breadth and length of which has never before been seen. With the threat that climate change brings, nobody knows when, or even if, it will end.

But Nestlé has not seen the considerable people power that Oregon can muster. Groups like the Food and Water Watchand Bark have been fighting the plant for five years. Aided by the Crag Law Center they have been challenging every step Nestlé takes in its drive to bilk Oregon out of its water.

Wondering how you can help? Email or call Gov. Brown through her contact page. Call Oregon Fish and Wildlife director Curt Melcher — who inherited this mess — at (503) 947-6044. Tell them that Oregon’s water is not for sale. Sign this petition, too. Or this one. This deal can still be stopped. If we add our voices to those of Oregonians who are protesting this atrocity, we can keep Nestlé from moving in on one of the most pristine watersheds in the northwest.

This video from Keep Nestle Out of the Gorge was shot when this started in 2010:

Written by T. Steelman of www.addictinginfo.org