www.hoodrivernews.com
Hood River News, Wednesday, July 1, 2015
A5
Passions run high at Nestlé town hall
Photo by Patrick Mulvihill
NESTLE TOWN HALL brings in more than 120 people at the Cascade Locks City Hall last Thursday night. Audience members raise their hands for a chance to speak. Gordon Zimmerman, Cascade Locks City
Administrator, points to the next speaker.
By PATRICK MULVIHILL
forum.
Zimmerman gave an up-
date on the status of the
Nestlé deal. So far, the cross
water rights transfer hasn’t
yet been approved by the
Oregon Water Resources De-
partment.
If the state agency issues
the city a permit by the end
of the year, Cascade Locks
would transfer 0.5 cubic feet
per second (cfs) — 225 gal-
lons per minute — of its mu-
nicipal ground water right in
exchange for 0.5 cfs of Ore-
gon Department of Fish and
Wildlife’s water right to
Oxbow Spring, just east of
town.
The city would pipe those
gallons from Oxbow Springs
into the park’s industrial
park, and sell it to Nestlé for
bottling.
Zimmerman compared the
water bottling plant to the
software company Intel’s
water requirement, which
uses 1 billion gallons annual-
ly, 8.6 times as much Nestle’s
proposed plant.
Zimmer man explained
that sale of the land will be
managed by the Port Com-
mission, and development of
the land will be approved by
the City.
Members of local and
Por tland environmental
groups, including the “No
Nestlé in Cascades Locks”
coalition and the Local
Water Alliance, spoke out in
large numbers against the
plant.
In fact, they interjected
several times during Zim-
merman’s update speech,
prompting him to say, “It’ll
take a lot longer if you keep
interrupting me.”
When Briggs opened the
floor for public comment and
passed the microphone
around, Nestlé opponents
were most numerous in the
audience.
“I’m deeply disappointed
with the Port Commission,
the City of Cascade Locks,
the ODFW, and our previous
two governors,” said Kath-
leen Fitzgerald of the Local
Water Alliance. Fitzgerald
applauded Cascade Locks
City Councilor Deanna Bus-
dieker, the sole councilor op-
posed to the Nestlé deal.
“She has been courageous
to stand up against the odds,
against the hard-nosed bu-
reaucrats that have been
given a small amount of
power over citizens and their
right to their water source,”
said Fitzgerald.
Anti-Nestlé speakers cited
concer ns including in-
creased truck traffic and
plastic bottle pollution, an
impact on local War m
Springs tribes’ water rights,
and a pressing need for pub-
lic ownership of water in a
time of countywide drought.
“We are not in a drought in
Cascade Locks,” said Zim-
merman, responding to the
latter comment.
Hood River County de-
clared a drought emergency
last week, and included Cas-
cade Locks in the resolution.
County Administrator Dave
Meriwether said there was
an option to exclude Cascade
Locks from the declaration
due to its high annual rain-
fall — an idea suggested by
several citizens of the city —
but the Board of Commis-
sioners opted to include Cas-
cade Locks in order to have
the entire county considered
on the state’s list.
James Dean of Cascade
Locks argued that Oxbow
Springs is unrelated to the
water supply of Hood River
and Portland, where some
audience members hailed
from.
“It seems that we have a lot
of people here that this does-
n’t affect,” said Dean.
Dean named unemploy-
ment as a central issue in
Cascade Locks. “You proba-
bly all have jobs, you have
the opportunity for jobs.
This little community relies
on whatever … they can get.”
Audience members asked
Zimmerman how Cascade
Locks would be able to hold
Nestle accountable if they
“did something wrong” in its
treatment of the small town.
“Shut off their water,”
joked Zimmerman. He then
suggested a “termination
clause” be put in place in the
contract with Nestlé, which
could allow the city to with-
draw.
City Councilor Busdieker
argued that the city wouldn’t
be able to afford a legal tus-
sle. She cited a similar situa-
tion in Fryburg, Maine, in
which the town tried unsuc-
cessfully to sue Nestlé.
“We don’t have the re-
sources to fight their
lawyers. This is too risky,”
said Busdieker.
These are the re gular
meeting times of governing
bodies for these agencies:
Council Chambers, 140 W.
WaNaPa St., first and third
Thursdays of the month.
Cascade Locks
Hood River
Cascade Locks City Coun-
cil, 7 p.m., City Hall Council
Chambers, 140 W. WaNaPa
St., second and fourth Mon-
days of the month.
Cascade Locks Planning
Commission, 7 p.m., City
Hall Council Chambers, 140
W. Wa N a P a S t . , s e c o n d
Thursday of the month.
Cascade Locks Port Com-
mission, 6 p.m., City Hall
City of Hood River Plan-
ning Commission meeting,
5:30 p.m., Hood River City
Hall Council Chambers, 211
Second St., generally the
first and third Mondays of
the month. Place and dates
subject to change.
Hood River Port Commis-
sion, 5 p.m., 100 E. Port Ma-
rina Drive, board room,
first and third Tuesdays of
the month.
Hood River City Council,
6 p.m., Hood River City Hall
Council Chambers, 211 Sec-
ond St., second and fourth
Mondays of the month.
Hood River Valley Parks
and Recreation District, 6
p.m., Aquatic Center, 1601
May St., third Wednesday of
the month. Place subject to
change.
meeting, 4 p.m., OSU Exten-
sion Service Building, 2990
Experiment Station Road,
f i r s t T h u r s d ay o f t h e
month.
Hood River County Board
of Commissioners regular
session, 6 p.m., 601 State St.,
first floor conference room,
third Monday of the month.
Time subject to change.
Library District Board
meeting, 7 p.m., 502 State
St., conference room, third
Tuesday of the month.
Hood River County Plan-
ning Commission meeting,
7 p.m., 601 State St., first
floor, generally second and
fourth Wednesdays of the
month.
Hood River County Water
Planning Group, 2 p.m., 601
State St., first floor confer-
ence room, generally first
Wednesday of the month.
Hood River County Com-
mission on Children and
Families Board meeting,
5:15 p.m., Providence Hood
River Memorial Hospital
boardroom, generally first
Tuesday of the month.
H o o d R ive r C o u n t y
School Board, 6:30 p.m.,
meets at schools and dis-
trict facilities on a rotating
schedule (visit hoodriv-
er.k12.or.us for location),
second and fourth Wednes-
days of the month unless
school vacations or other
h o l i d ay s i n t e r r u p t t h e
schedule.
H o o d R ive r C o u n t y
Transportation District, 9
a.m., Hood River County
T ranspor tat ion District
Board Room, 224 Wasco
Loop, second Wednesday of
the month.
News staff writer
More than 120 people filled
the Cascade Locks City hall
gym Thursday to discuss
Nestlé’s proposed bottling
plant. Tension mounted as
those in favor and opposed
raised their voices with com-
ments and questions.
Nestlé’s proposed plant
would set up shop at the In-
dustrial Park in Cascade
Locks, and bottle 100 million
gallons of spring water annu-
ally from Oxbow Springs in
order to sell it around the
Northwest.
The town hall was coordi-
nated by Cascade Locks Ad-
ministrator Gordon Zimmer-
man and a facilitator, Bar-
bara Briggs of Hood River.
A handful of Port and city
leaders were present, includ-
ing Cascade Locks Mayor
Tom Cramblett, outgoing
Port Commissioner Brenda
Cramblett, Port Commission
President Jess Groves and
Port Interim General Manag-
er Paul Koch, but those rep-
resentatives were not in-
volved in facilitating the
Barbara Briggs
ON THE AGENDA
Hood River County
H o o d R ive r S o i l a n d
Water Conservation Dis-
trict Board of Directors
Hood River Weather Forecast
Date
Today July 1
Thurs. July 2
Fri. July 3
Forecast
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Daytime / Overnight
High / Low (°F)
99° / 68°
104° / 70°
98° / 68°
Sat. July 4
Mostly Sunny
98° / 68°
Sun. July 5
Sunny
99° / 69°
Oregon Weather Map
Wind Speed WNW 3 G 13 MPH
Barometer NA
WASH.
Astoria
55° | 69°
Newport
52° | 63°
Humidity 78%
Portland
62° | 90°
Salem
61° | 92°
Dewpoint 64°F (18°C)
Pendleton
64° | 97°
Bend
57° | 93°
Ontario
73° | 102°
Eugene
59° | 92°
Visibility NA
Last update 29 Jun 7:00 am PDT
IDAHO
AGRIMET HOOD RIVER OR
Lat: 45.6842 Long: -121.5181 Elev: 510
http://uspest.org
North Bend
55° | 67°
Medford
62° | 102°
Klamath Falls
54°
| 95°
CALIF.
© 2015 Wunderground.com
This week’s Forecast
Mon. July 6
Tues. July 7
Sunny
Sunny
541-386-1123
98° / 68°
Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. West wind around 5 mph
becoming light and variable in the morning.
98° / 67°
@gVc #& JVRcd
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3140 W. Cascade, Hood River
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BfR]Zej ARced
Actual High / Low
June
June
June
June
June
June
June
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
79/56
83/54
86/62
95/58
105/60
99/68
91/69
Updated Monday, June 29
at 9:00 a.m. PST
Data from www.weather.com
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