Nestlé has been forced to ditch its plans to extract water from a spring in Monroe County, Pennsylvania this week after fierce resistance from the local community
The plan would have seen bottled beverage giant, Nestlé Waters North America, take 200,000 gallons of waterery day from the source in Kunkletown, located in Eldred Township, and truck it away to a nearby plant to be bottled under its Deer Park brand.
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The plans for the water grab, helped by the municipality, which may have improperly adopted a corporate-friendly ordinance, had drawn the ire of many local residents, who celebrated the development.
“This entire village of Kunkletown came together and slayed the dragon, and it’s something to be proud of,” Eldred Township resident Donna Deihl told the Allentown Morning Call.
The change in plans was announced at a township supervisors meeting Wednesday, during which Eric Andreus, a hydrogeologist for Nestlé, said (pdf) the company faced “logistical and design challenges.”
He also acknowledged local opposition, adding, “it is clear to us that the community in Eldred Township does not believe the process around this project worked the way it was intended and that many of you have concerns about this project,” adding, “We have not been successful in gaining the same acceptance here in Eldred Township as we have in other communities that host our operations.”
When the announcement came, “The room went crazy,” Deihl said. “We clapped, we applauded, standing ovation. We cried.”
The latest news comes less than a month after Oregon voters in Hood River County, prevented a years-long attempt by Nestlé to extract up to 100 million gallons a year of Oxbow Springs water and bottling it under the Arrowhead brand.
