State dismisses case challenging Nestlé’s Michigan water withdrawal permit

A 2018 case challenging Nestlé’s license to extract water from Michigan and sell it for profit was dismissed by the state’s environment department on Friday.

The Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) on Friday dismissed a case challenging Nestle Waters North America’s permit to increase water withdrawals from its Osceola County facility .

The case, brought by the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, was filed after Nestlé reached a deal with the administration of former governor Rick Snyder in 2018 allowing it to pump 1.1 million gallons of water per day from Michigan for a total of just $ 200 per year.

The $ 200 goes to approve the company’s license to extract water from Osceola County wells. The company is expected to make a potential profit of hundreds of millions of dollars each year from water pumped from Michigan.

Environmentalists say damage was caused by Nestle’s pumping of water for bottling at their pumping site near Evart, Michigan. Residents have also been outraged that the company is taking Michigan water almost for free and turning it into a huge profit.

In 2018, residents told Local 4 that the creek was in full swing a few years ago, but things have changed because of the water that Nestlé pumps. The company had previously said it had carried out extensive testing and saw no signs of damage or danger to the environment.

EGLE dismissed the company’s license appeal on Friday, saying the ministry did not have the power to intervene under the current circumstances.

“EGLE remains committed to protecting our state’s precious water resources, but as a regulator, we must act within our statutory authority,” said EGLE Director Liesl Clark. “The Safe Drinking Water Act only authorizes EGLE to hold hearings of disputed cases in very limited circumstances which are not present in this case.”

In April of this year, an administrative judge upheld the state permit that allows Nestle Waters North America to pump 400 gallons per minute from a well near Evart in Osceola County, an increase of 60%. Water is trucked to a production facility at Ice Mountain in Mecosta County. Nestlé draws water from other wells in the region.

In an effort to intensify the legal fight against Nestlé’s use of Michigan’s water, environmental groups asked Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to return in July of this year. She did not take legal action at the time, claiming the company was operating legally in Michigan as it stood. Nessel, however, has shown interest in pursuing changes in state policy to prevent this from happening again in the future.

EGLE proposed a similar course of action on Friday while announcing the dismissal of the case.

The EGLE director said the ministry “would welcome legislative changes that update regulations to give the agency more authority over water withdrawals for bottled water and charges to compensate the Michiganders for the commercial use of the state’s freshwater resources, ”a press release read.

“We appreciate the appeals from petitioners and other members of the public for charges for the abstraction of bottled water payable to the state, but this is currently outside the statutory authority of EGLE,” Clark said. “EGLE supports calls by lawmakers to take action to prevent private parties from taking advantage of our state’s water resources.”

Officials say the Nestlé Michigan license review process was the most thorough analysis of any water withdrawal in Michigan history. Yet the company’s license has been widely contested by residents for years.

EGLE officials said on Friday Michigan citizens for water conservation and the Ottawa Grand Traverse Band and Chippewa Indians should have appealed Nestlé’s permit directly to a circuit court , rather than with EGLE.

Click here to read the full statement from EGLE.

A spokesperson for Nestle Waters North America issued the following statement regarding EGLE’s decision:

“Nestle Waters North America is pleased that the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has rejected the challenge to the permit we were granted in April 2018. We firmly believe that the decision to ‘EGLE to approve our permit application was appropriate, as it carefully considered and factored our permit application into what he called “the most in-depth analysis of any water withdrawal in the history of the Michigan”.

“We are confident in the science behind our application from the 18 years of environmental data collected near the site since the start of our Michigan operations, as well as EGLE’s extensive review and analysis of our application and our data.

“We remain opposed to the application of extraction taxes or similar charges that unfairly target the bottled water industry. Proposals like these are both non-scientific and discriminatory, in that they do not just target a renewable resource, they focus on a single industry using water especially in the state. According to EGLE’s own data, nearly 40 Michigan bottled water companies account for less than 0.01% of the water used in the state. Our water use in Michigan places us way down the list of the state’s top water users.

“It’s also important to note that we do not receive a special rate for water use and that the annual fee we pay is just one of the many expenses we pay to operate in Michigan. Since 2002, NWNA has made capital investments totaling more than $ 267 million and contributed $ 427 million to Michigan’s economy. According to an economic impact study we conducted in 2017, our company directly employs approximately 280 employees in the state. With an annual payroll of nearly $ 16 million, our economic activity generates approximately $ 5 million each year to support local and state taxes that fund local schools, fire and police departments, local parks and other essential services. We also purchase more than $ 50 million in goods and services each year from Michigan companies to support our business operations. “

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