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"iW Food & Water Watch' 142 High Street, Suite 501-C Par land: ME 04101

T +207.619.5845 F +207.619.5846 roodalldwatePNatch.org

February 24, 2016

To: Members of the Zoning Hearing Board, members of Eldred Township and surrounding
community:
On behalf of Food & Water Watch and concerned citizens of Fryeburg, Maine, we urge the town of
Eldred Township to not allow Nestle Waters North America/Deer Park to extract the communities'
groundwater resources.
Maine's groundwater is being privatized and commodified by several bottled water companies,
including Nestle Waters North America (owner of many bottled water brands including Maine's
Poland Spring). Nestle, and other companies, are pumping, bottling and selling millions of gallons of
groundwater each year from communities throughout the state, putting freshwater supply and the
environment at risk. Nestle Waters North America has been operating in Fryeburg, Maine for the'
past several years and the community is not reaping benefits and is increasingly concerned about
our groundwater resources. The water quality of the community of Fryeburg has decreased
throughout the years since Nestle's started operating there. There have been reports of unsafe
drinking water such as contaminated water, red/brown water, and off putting smells. On top of all
of this, we are working with the community to fight a contract between the Fryeburg Water
Company and Nestle which grants the multi-national water bottler unfettered access to much of the
town's drinking water for decades to corne (20-45 years to be exact).
Perhaps most troubling is that the lease prioritizes Nestle's water needs over the town's, giving the
company access to groundwater even should supplies dwindle. Moreover, this will be the first time
that Nestle has obtained a 20-45 year contract with the company. Typically, contracts run five years
at a time. The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) had oversight over the lease; all three of the
commissioners recused themselves due to past employment by Nestle in the state. The alternate
commissioners appointed by the Governor approved the lease even though the PUC staff
recommended rejecting it. We are now taking the PUC decision in appeal to the Maine Supreme
Court on March 1 st .
What we have learned is that Nestle takes advantage of weak and out of date laws governing water
rights by pushing legal limits to the extreme - not only in developing countries but also here in the
US and here in Maine. Nestle promotes bottled water with extensive marketing and well funded
advertising campaigns. It seeks to undermine public awareness that high quality municipal water
systems are needed permanently.
What we are dealing with in Maine highlights yet another reason why groundwater resources
should be held under the public trust so that long term groundwater management planning,
democratic control and environmental stewardship would be taken into consideration for the
people of and not for multinational corporations who's vested interest is profit. Once a bottled
water operation is allowed into a community it is very difficult to get them to stop operating. We hope
the citizens of your township won't have to deal with the problems and tribulations we are dealing
with in Maine. With these reason, we urge you to reject the proposal by Nestle and protect your
groundwater resources for the public and for the future.
Warm regards,
Nisha Swinton
New England Senior Organizer, Food & Water Watch
Nswinton@fwwatch.org

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