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| Greens Thankful for Court Ruling Protecting Michigan Water. |
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Green Party of Michigan News Release On the eve of Thanksgiving, the Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) gives particular thanks for the 49th Judicial Circuit Court and the Honorable Judge Lawrence Root, who yesterday ordered Nestlé to shut down their Ice Mountain pumping operations at Sanctuary Springs in Mecosta County within 21 days. GPMI also thanks Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC), two local families, and lead plaintiffs' attorney James Olson and his co-counsels in the case for bringing the lawsuit against Ice Mountain parentcorporation Nestlé Waters North America Inc. in September 2001 to block the conglomerate's extraction of the water. The suit challenged Nestlé's claim that it had the right to take 400 gallons per minute (210 millions gallons a year) of spring water away from feeding a stream that is a tributary to the Little Muskegon River, which in turn flows to Lake Michigan, for its own usage. In his 68-page decision, Judge Root found that Nestlé's "water- extraction activities" failed to meet two key legal standards testing for potential damage caused to the environment. Consequently, Root wrote, "I am holding that Nestlé's pumping operations at the Sanctuary Springs must stop entirely. . . . Further, I am unable to find that a specific pumping rate lower than 400 gpm, or any rate to date, will reduce the effects and impacts to a level that is not harmful. . . ." Judge Root -- who near the end of the opinion quoted the Grateful Dead lyric, "What a long strange trip it's been" -- made part of that trip himself -- taking a canoe to some of the waterways in question to see the situation first-hand. Judge Root defines water in the opinion as "a natural resource that is part of that which substantially defines the nature of our state". The decision is careful to ignore the impact of "public opinion or political pressure" -- speaking rather to the effect of the pumping operation on the surrounding ecosystem. Nestlé, which also owns Perrier and other brands of bottled water besides Ice Mountain, has vowed to appeal what it complains is the judge's "extreme" decision. But Louis Novak of the Sweetwater Alliance and the GPMI Water Working Group disagrees. "Judge Root has simply determined that the public use of water takes priority over private use. "I hope this decision will stand up in the appeals process -- and set the precedent the issue deserves," Novak added. Judge Root also took the state Department of Environmental Quality to task for wrongly concluding that Nestlé's water-extraction activities were not subject to DEQ regulation, and urged the Michigan Legislature to pass clearer and stronger laws protecting the state's water resources.This pleases Mount Pleasant City Commissioner and GPMI member Jim Moreno. "Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation and their passionate and talented legal team sure gave grassroots democracy a badly-needed shot in the arm. I am glad to see Judge Lawrence Root employing ecological wisdom in this case. "Now, why can't the Michigan Legislature and Governor Granholm show some sensitivity to the people of Michigan and go the rest of the way in safeguarding our groundwater with a strong law?" The opinion is available on line at: |
