Canadian eco-tribunal strikes down Nestle's water ripoff

Tree Hugger - Nestlé takes a lot of water out of the ground in Wellington County, Ontario. They have applied pull 3.6 million liters a day out of the ground around Guelph, Ontario. Meanwhile, the citizens of Guelph have been subject to water restrictions due to drought.

But Nestlé isn't interested in water restrictions, and made a deal with the Ontario government that would have exempted it from them. Now that deal has been struck down by the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal. According to the Globe and Mail,

The tribunal, which termed the deal “not consistent” with both Ontario law and the public interest, ordered the case be given a full environmental hearing....“The water in the aquifer comes from somewhere and goes somewhere,” wrote Mr. Pardy [of the tribunal] in his decision. “Even if taking from the aquifer does not directly affect surface waters in the immediate area, that does not mean that surface waters elsewhere would not be affected by taking from the aquifer during drought conditions.”

It is a big victory for the local activists at Wellington Water Watchers.