Center for Biological Diversity


Media Advisory, June 10, 2016  

Contact:  Brett Abrams, (516) 841-110, brett@unbendablemedia.com
Ileene Anderson, (323) 490-0223, ianderson@biologicaldiversity.org

8 a.m.: Activists Rally Outside Federal Courthouse in Riverside as
Judge Considers Challenge to Nestlé Water-bottling Pipeline in San Bernardino National Forest

Nestlé Under Fire for Siphoning Millions of Gallons of Water From
Bernardino National Forest Despite Expired Permit; Harming Creek

RIVERSIDE, Calif.— On June 13, 2016, at 8 a.m., activists from the Story of Stuff Project, the California-based Courage Campaign Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity will rally outside the U.S. District Court building in Riverside, Calif. as Judge Jesus G. Bernal considers a challenge to Nestlé’s four-mile pipeline that siphons water from San Bernardino National Forest’s Strawberry Creek to bottling operations in Ontario. In a time of drought and water conservation, Nestlé’s operation has severely lowered levels in Strawberry Creek, harming wildlife and the public interest.

At the rally activists will call on the court to rule against the U.S. Forest Service for allowing Nestlé to continue to bottle millions of gallons of water from the San Bernardino National Forest with a permit that expired 28 years ago, effectively ending Nestlé water-taking.

When: 8 a.m. PDT, Monday, June 13

Where: U.S. District Court -— Courtroom 1, 3470 Twelfth Street, Riverside, CA.

In 2014 alone an estimated 28 million gallons were piped away from the forest to be bottled and sold under Nestlé’s Arrowhead brand of bottled water. The permit expired in 1988, but the piping system remains in active use, siphoning about 68,000 gallons of water a day out of the forest last year. Reports from the end of 2015 indicated that water levels at Strawberry Creek were at record lows.  

In exchange for allowing Nestlé to continue siphoning water from the Creek, the Forest Service receives just $524 a year, less than the average Californian’s water bill.

Following the announcement of the lawsuit last year, the Forest Service announced plans to review and renew Nestlé's permit for another five years. Earlier this month, more than 280,000 members of the California-based Courage Campaign Institute, The Story of Stuff Project, the Center for Biological Diversity, Food & Water Watch, Care2, CREDO, SumOfUs and Daily Kos and many other groups and individuals submitted comments to the Forest Service requesting that it not approve Nestlé’s new permit for water bottling in the San Bernardino National Forest.

“Forest Service must follow the law (of the National Environmental Policy Act) and conduct a robust and rigorous environmental review of the impacts of Nestlé’s bottled water operation on our lands before issuing a new permit,” said Eddie Kurtz, executive director and president of the California-based Courage Campaign. “Until a new permit is issued and while this review is underway, Nestlé should not be allowed to withdraw water from the forest.”

“Why should Nestlé — the largest food and beverage company in the U.S. — get to operate a huge bottled water operation on a permit that’s been expired for 30 years during a historic drought when it’s causing what used to be a perennial stream that wildlife use to go dry?” said Ileene Anderson, senior scientist and public lands deserts director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“280,000+ citizens have signed a petition demanding that the Forest Service turn off the spigot,” explained Michael O’Heaney, executive director at Story of Stuff. “Extending Nestlé’s permit without a proper environmental review disregards the public interest and threatens the well being of the plants and animals that depend on the water.”

** Members of the Story of Stuff Project and Courage Campaign Institute will also be available for comments after the hearing, outside the U.S. District Court.  

For more information, or for interviews, please contact Brett Abrams at (516) 841-1105 or by email at brett@unbendablemedia.com.


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