LETTER: Bottling plant OK, but only with conditions

(Not that I totally agree with this opinion letter, but it is much better than the DNRC issuing a blank check to MAWC with no conditions. Interesting point of view...)

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/members/letter-bottling-plant-ok-but-only-with-conditions/article_4bd3fe86-9330-11e6-8a08-67e5b7703872.html?mode=story

Personally I don't think the State would be willing to spend the money to create the necessary infrastructure to effectively oversee a bottling plant operation that would actually protect wells, wildlife, and wetlands. A new dept with staff (including legal) would need to be created to monitor all the interacting conditions and enforce compliance.  

Commissioners, Where Do You Stand?

Certainly the great majority of Flathead County residents are opposed to this project...

http://flatheadbeacon.com/2016/10/11/commissioners-where-do-you-stand/

Timber Company Tells California Town, Go Find Your Own Water

WEED, Calif. — The water that gurgles from a spring on the edge of this Northern California logging town is so pristine that for more than a century it has been piped directly to the wooden homes spread across hills and gullies.

To the residents of Weed, which sits in the foothills of Mount Shasta, a snow-capped dormant volcano, the spring water is a blessing during a time of severe and prolonged drought.

To the lumber company that owns the land where the spring is, the water is a business opportunity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/california-drought-weed-mount-shasta.html?_r=0

People are furious at Nestle for taking over small towns' water supply

 A new purchase by Nestlé is sparking calls for a boycott of the company and reform of the bottled water industry.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/people-are-furious-at-nestle-for-taking-over-small-towns-water-supply/ar-BBwECba?li=BBnb4R7

In Waitsburg, A Proposed Water Bottling Plant Creates Division

 Nestlé is looking to build a commercial water bottling plant in the Northwest. Its most recent pitch is to the town of Waitsburg, 20 miles north of Walla Walla. The plan to bottle water from Coppei springs is tying the small community in knots.

http://nwpr.org/post/waitsburg-proposed-water-bottling-plant-creates-division

Tension should subside by your making the right decision

Guidance for the commissioners

In your front page article of Sept. 8, Sam Wilson reported on the county commissioners’ meeting dealing with the Creston zoning plan change, which would impact the proposed Creston water bottling plant. Wilson noted that Commissioner Phil Mitchell commented after the meeting that he was “struggling” between his emphasis on property rights protections and the fact that the proposal is a publicly initiated request with strong community support.” He further commented, “The problem I have with this one is it was done on the basis of someone that was unzoned being told what he couldn’t do. If this was done a year ago, this would have been a slam dunk.”

Commissioner Mitchell, let me help you with that struggle. There are a number of reasons that this one still is a slam dunk:

1) When you were sworn in as our county commissioner, you took an oath to defend and support the Constitution of the state of Montana. Under our Constitution, the water, which is the property at issue here, is the property of the people of Montana, not Lew Weaver; your overriding obligation is to support and defend the public property rights under our Constitution.

2) What does the passage of a year have to do with this? Weaver has not been given a green light by any state agency to steal our water yet, and just because he may have taken some action to go ahead with his plans, and spent some of his money as well as that, probably, of his backers, this is his problem, not yours, or that of the public. Why you would feel any tension about this is unfounded.

Believe me, that tension should subside by your making the right decision by allowing this zoning change which will have the effect of supporting the petitioners who want to amend their zoning plan and have met all of the legal requirements to do so, and also you will be doing the right thing by your county constituents whose property interests you are also protecting.

Let’s all hope you and your fellow commissioners make the right decision. —David Eychner, Kalispell

Cascade Locks Ore. Nestle Water Bottling Plan Draws Protest — Even After It's Voted Down

 Last May, it looked like voters had stopped the Nestle corporation from putting a water-bottling plant in the Columbia River Gorge. But four months later, activists are raising concerns the project could still happen.

http://www.opb.org/news/article/nestle-oregon-water-bottling-plan-protest/