Michigan Methodists Face Off On Nestle Water Struggle

EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Fifteen, Number Two
March / April 2006

It was almost a year ago that this newsletter featured an article by Ada Kidd about an attempt by the Methodists in Michigan to stop Nestle withdrawing water from a spring near Big Rapids, Michigan. To briefly recap, Nestle had opened a water bottling plant in 2002 that was withdrawing 500 gallons a minute from Sanctuary Springs. Local residents soon noticed clearly diminished water levels in wells, streams and lakes. In response, the West Michigan and Detroit Methodist Annual conferences approved a resolution in 2003 urging Methodists to avoid using Nestle-owned bottled water products. Much has happened since then.

Thanks to a lawsuit brought by the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC), an appeals court has ordered a negotiated settlement. Nestle has agreed to limit its water withdrawals to an average of 218 gallons per minute.

Further, as part of the settlement with MCWC, Nestle must lower its withdrawals during periods of little rain and during times critical to fish reproduction. Terry Swier, president of MCWC, is rightly proud of winning (so far) this David vs. Goliath battle, in which their attorney, Jim Olson, (a former board member of NACCE) defeated seven lawyers working for the Nestle corporation.

But as is often the case when citizens take on a corporate behemoth, this silver lining has a cloud. In this case, it’s the town of Evart Michigan. To replace the water lost from Sanctuary Spring, Nestle is now obtaining 400 gallons of water a minute for its bottling plant from the town of Evart. The price tag: $200,000 a year, according to Ms. Swier.

Meanwhile the Methodists have struggled to maintain their fight with Nestle. According to Rev. Eric Stone, director of the Wesleyan Center at Central Michigan University and author of the resolution approved by the Detroit Annual Conference, his annual conference did not consider renewing the resolution in 2004. The West Michigan Annual Conference renewed the Nestle water resolution in 2004, but defeated it in 2005. According to Rev. Stone, no one was present to speak on behalf of the resolution, while two pastors spoke against it: one pastor who also worked for the Michigan Dept of Environment Quality, whose initial approval of the Nestle water pumping permit had been overturned by the courts and another pastor who had a son engaged as an attorney by Nestle.

Meanwhile, MCWC attorney Jim Olson has filed an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that voided the initial jury decision. Until the Supreme Court hears the case, Nestle withdrawals will remained capped.

This is such a significant case because, among other reasons, the Great Lakes, which surround Michigan, hold 20% of the world’s fresh water. As the world grows thirstier and thirstier, it remains to be seen if the Michigan courts will uphold the right of its citizens to control their own water or whether it will instead allow those rights to be sold to the highest corporate bidder. Please stay tuned. The results of this fight may well help determine whether this is indeed “a government of the people, by the people and for the people”*.

In April, the United Methodist Women will be hearing from Terry Swier the latest news about their water blues. We wish them well and hope it’s not too late to get the Methodists and other Christians in Michigan back into the water fray.