Nestle Water Scandal

Nestle is no stranger to boycott. Beginning in the 1970’s the corporation which brought consumers trusted brands such as Ovaltine and Nestle Tollhouse chips suffered backlash from their aggressive marketing of infant formula in underdeveloped countries, which was leading to sickness and death among infants. Consumers across the United States not only boycotted Nestle brands and products but petitioned and picketed to gain support against the corporation. Ethical business practices along with the exploiting of natural resources have taken their toll on Nestle, but not just the company’s bottom line has seen effects. Stakeholders such as small rural communities in the Great Lakes region, the East Coast, even in Western areas such as the Arkansas River in Utah, as well as third world countries including Nigeria, Ethiopia and Pakistan have dealt with the production and sale of Nestle bottled water.
As soon as Nestle began extracting and bottling the water from natural sources throughout the United States municipalities and citizens took notice. Nestle is the largest extractor of water in the city of Detroit and state of Michigan. Although other bottlers such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo also extract water, Nestle has been credited with doing the great amount of environmental damage. “Opponents say Nestle's pumping is lowering water levels in local creeks and lakes -- systems that feed the Great Lakes. In Ontario, a hydrologist hired by a group opposing the Nestle plant reported that the company was using 7 percent of the local water supply and depleting the flow of a creek,” Kari Lydersen of the Washington Post in her article, Bottled Water at Issue in Great Lakes reported. Citizens, lawmakers and environmentalists have made many attempts to force Nestle out of the Great Lakes Region, or to at least impose a tax on the corporation to increase revenue for governments at the state and local level. With the growth in consumption of bottled water every year the demand is making it even more important for stakeholders such as local governments and environmental groups to stop or slow the depletion of the natural resources. Many environmental groups have formed out of support to stop Nestle. One group, led by Swiss journalist Res Gehringer and producer Urs Schnell recently released a documentary entitled The Bottled Life to gain support against Nestle by presenting information about the cost of the water on consumers, the environment, governments and third world countries.
Government has also reacted to claims made by environmental activist groups regarding Nestle’s use of fresh water. Terry Swier, president of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, has stated she does not believe Nestle should pay a higher price for water than residents of the state do, "With the financial situation Michigan is in, we would just open up the state to any water bottler," she said. "We have to preserve and protect the waters for future generations" (Lydersen). Other states and municipalities such as the city of Fryburg, Maine whose residents greatly oppose the extraction of water by Nestle see benefits in the bottling of their water as well. Fryeburg residents obtained over 100,000 signatures in protest of a contract between the city and Nestle, which would allow the corporation to extract water at a low tax rate while paying the city $144,000 annually, following a more predictable cash flow. Bruce Taylor, a Fryeburg, Maine taxpayer and an intervener of the case against Nestle was quoted the following, They’re buying a commodity at a cheap regulated rate from a monopoly they own and are reselling it for a high profit in the form of bottled water you find in your local 7-11” (Varela). The government disregarded the petition even though many residents claimed the contract displayed be ‘conflicted interests’ between the government officials and Nestle (Varela).
In addition to the water that is being extracted from North America, many activist groups are also petitioning to keep Nestle out of countries such as Pakistan. The group SumOfUs.org has sponsored a petition that has gained over a 215,000 online signatures to stop Nestle from extracting water in the Pakistani village of Bhati Dilwan where the water table has significantly sunk and the villagers are being negatively affected. Many residents of Bhati Dilwan are becoming ill or dying from the lack of water available to them or the sludge that is polluting their natural resources, a majority of these cases happen to be found in children. This same situation has taken place in many third world countries because of Nestle. Because Nestle has extracted the water to profit from, the only way the locals in these undeveloped, impoverished nations can obtain healthy drinking water is to buy it back in the form of expensive, bottled water. In most cases the villagers are living on a very fixed income, often only a few dollars a week, drinking water is not something they can afford. Many oppositions to Nestle have accused the corporation of privatizing water to the point that the only people that can afford it will be able to drink water, which they feel is a basic human right. Nestle on the other hand, with the help of the United Nations ruled that water is a human need, not a right and offering it to undeveloped countries at a cost is legal.

Varela, J. (2013, October 16). Maine commissioner recuses himself from Nestle water case. In Aljazeera America. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/the-stream/the-latest/2013/10/16/stream-update-mainecommissionerrecuseshimselffromnestlewatercase.html
Lydersen, K. (2008, September 29). Bottled Water at Issue in Great Lakes. In The Washington Post. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802997.html