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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2015)
G REATER G ORGE A2 Hood River News, Wednesday, April 29, 2015 www.hoodrivernews.com Anti-Nestlé protestors decry state’s role in proposed bottled water plant By KELLY HOUSE The Oregonian/OregonLive, staff Editor’s note: This AP story was originally published April 16 in The Oregonian. Rush hour across the Hawthorne Bridge Thurs- day morning was an unusu- ally rowdy affair. Along with the motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians making their way toward Downtown Portland, about 150 demonstrators gathered at the bridge’s eastern ap- proach to decry the state’s plan to let Nestlé bottle and sell water from a C o l u m b i a R ive r G o r g e spring. T h e p ro t e s t o r s s t o o d , waving “No to Nestlé“ signs and chanting “Gov. Brown, don’t let us down!” while passing commuters honked their horns in support, or breezed by without batting an eye. T he protest signals a backlash to the Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wi l d l i f e ’s d e c i s i o n l a s t week to proceed with a plan to speed up the permitting process for a Nestlé bottled water plant in Cascade Locks while cutting public interest out of the equation. The world’s largest food and beverage company has been eyeing the 1,148-per- son town since 2008 as a p r i m e s i t e fo r i t s f i r s t Northwest bottling plant. Nestlé has other spring water plants throughout the nation, including several in California. Nestlé‘s plan in Cascade Locks hinges upon the state’s cooperation. The fish and wildlife department owns water rights at Oxbow S p r i n g s, wh i c h N e s t l é wants to tap for its Arrow- head spring water brand. Nestlé has a tentative agree- ment with the Cascade Locks city leadership to build a $50 million bottling plant in the town, employ- ing up to 50 people and nearly doubling the city’s property tax revenue. For the deal to work, the city must gain access to Oxbow Springs, and then sell the water to Nestlé as a municipal utility customer. Initially, city and state leaders planned to accom- plish that task by trading water gallon-for-gallon. The state would give Cascade Locks 0.5 cubic feet per sec- ond of spring water in ex- change for an equal amount of city well water. Under that plan, state regulators tasked with approving or denying the trade have been required to consider the trade’s impact on the pub- lic. T rading water rights, however, requires no public interest review and is ex- pected to take less time. Protestors at Thursday’s demonstration argue the city and state’s decision to pursue that route amounts to an attempt to silence op- position. “The idea that they’re going to sell the state’s water is ridiculous,” said Brook Kirklin, 52, of Port- land. “It doesn’t belong to them - it belongs to us.” Demonstrators’ reasons for opposing the plant are myriad. Some argue Nestlé‘s plan in Cascade Locks amounts to privatiza- tion of a public resource. Others worry about the en- vironmental impacts of all those plastic bottles and the fossil fuels needed to ship them to the store. Some sim- ply scoff at the idea of sell- ing water for hundreds of times the amount it costs to draw from the tap. Recently, the company has come under intense scrutiny in California for failing to curb its water use despite a severe drought that has residents through- out the state scaling back. The U.S. Forest Service is also reviewing the compa- ny’s practices in the San Bernardino National For- est, where it has continued to pump water even though its permit to transport it across the forest expired years ago. Photo by Kelly House, The Oregonian/OregonLive, staff ANTI-NESTLÉ PROTESTORS gathered in downtown Portland to protest the proposed bottled water plant in Cascade Locks. Cascade Locks resident Kathy Tittle, who joined Thursday’s demonstration, said she worries a Nestlé plant in Cascade Locks would cause the same prob- lems in Oregon. “I’m screaming from the rooftops that I don’t want that here,” Tittle said. Nestlé supporters say a bottling plant would bring badly needed jobs to Cas- cade Locks, while capitaliz- ing on a readily available resource. Invasive mussels found on boat at Ontario ONTARIO, Ore. – Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife technicians discov- ered Zebra mussels on a boat at the Ontario boat in- spection station Friday. The boat being hauled from Lake Erie in Ohio is the first vessel of the 2015 in- spection season found to be infested with the invasive mussels. The commercial driver hauling the Ohio watercraft pulled in for inspection. Motorists hauling boats in Oregon are required to stop at inspection stations to h ave t h e i r w a t e r c r a f t checked for aquatic inva- sive species under a 2011 Oregon law. Failure to stop at an inspection station could result in a $110 fine. The boat had a moderate number of adult Zebra mus- sels around the propeller shaft and under the stern in the drain plug area. It was decontaminated at the in- spection station with high- pressure and hot water. “The driver did the right thing by pulling over to have the boat inspected. Boat owners need to always practice ‘Clean, Drain, Dry’ before launching their boat to keep invasive mussels and other aquatic invasive species out of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest,” said Rick Boatner, ODFW Inva- sive Species Coordinator. “Zebra and Quagga mussels have caused billions in eco- nomic damage around the U.S. and we don’t want to have the same kinds of problems they create here in the Pacific Northwest.” According to the Colum- bia Basin Bulletin, the Pa- cific Northwest, including Alaska and the Canadian provinces of British Colum- bia and Alberta, is the “only place on the continent” un- affected by the Zebra and Quagga mussel invasions that have devastated ecosys- tems and local economies. The U.S. Geological Survey has a Quagga and Zebra mussel distribution map on its website. Their highest concentration is in the great lakes of North Ameri- ca. The last time ODFW found invasive mussels at the Ontario station was May 20, 2014, when techni- cians discovered Quagga mussels on a pontoon houseboat. In addition to Quagga and Zebra mussels, inspec- tors are looking for aquatic plants and New Zealand mudsnails. “Clean, Drain, Dry,” ODFW’s boat cleaning guidelines. Clean the boat complete- ly, pulling off any plant ma- terial, animals or mud. Drain – completely drain any areas that could hold standing water by pulling all drain plugs. Dry – allow the boat to dry before launching again. W h a t ’s n e x t i n t h e process? The Oregon Water Resources Department is in charge of approving or denying ODFW and Cas- cade Locks’ applications. A 30-day public comment peri- od is underway. After re- v i ew i n g c o m m e n t s, t h e agency will issue a prelimi- nary decision. Another month of public comment will follow before Water Re- sources makes a final call on the proposed water rights swap. It is time for the NBA Playoffs! ! 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