While the Wellington Water Watchers, Ecojustice and the Council of Canadians are celebrating a tribunal ruling that rejects a deal between Nestlé Waters Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) that would have removed restrictions on Nestlé’s water withdrawals during times of drought, a hearing has yet to be held to render a final decision.
The permit in question is for a well near Hillsburgh, but it is not Nestlé’s only source of water within Wellington County.
The decision itself will not negate the current five-year water-taking permit, but would look into the need for drought clauses.
The recent tribunal, which wrapped up in mid-August, considered the appeal of Nestlé’s permit to take water and a motion to approve a proposed settlement between the company and the Ministry of the Environment.
Comments in the decision from the Environmental Review Tribunal suggested the settlement agreement between Nestlé and the Ministry of the Environment was not in the public interest and was inconsistent with the Ontario Water Resources Act and therefore the tribunal is going forward with a hearing.
The MOE/Nestlé deal in February would have allowed water withdrawals from an underground aquifer in Wellington County during low water conditions.
“We are very happy that our concerns, which we have voiced for over seven years, are now being heard,” says Mike Nagy, chair of Wellington Water Watchers.
“We believe that a hearing is a positive step forward in allowing for meaningful public participation anddiscussion regarding the many issues surrounding this permit and threats to the groundwater.”
Will Amos, director of the Ecojustice Clinic at the University of Ottawa, said, “This is a great day for groundwater protection in Canada. We are looking forward to the full hearing in the coming months.”
Emma Lui of the Council of Canadians added, “We are thrilled with the tribunal’s ruling. Ontario has the potential to be a leader in groundwater protection across the country, and this is a promising step forward.
“We need a shift in decision making so that water is recognized as a human right and drinking water and community use are prioritized over industry use.”
Activists state the ruling calls for a full hearing on the original appeal, which the non-profit groups will be actively preparing for in the coming weeks and months.
However, John Challinor, Nestlé Waters’ director of corporate affairs, states, “the hearing would only be dealing with the use of the spike rate during a drought and our ability to voluntarily reduce our taking versus doing so on a mandatory basis.”
Challinor said the company is still studying the tribunal decision, but to date has taken no further action.
“Since establishing operations in Hillsburgh in 2000, Nestlé Waters Canada is one of a very few water-drawers in the Grand River watershed that has always complied with requests by Grand River Conservation Authority to voluntarily reduce water usage during Level 1 and Level 2 drought levels,” he said.
Challinor added, “On the three occasions in 2007 and 2012 where these drought levels were declared in Hillsburgh, Nestlé Waters voluntarily reduced its draws.”
He said the company “plans to continue to comply with each and every one of these requests, in the future.”
Challinor explained, “In the view of its own hydrogeologist, as well as hydrogeologists employed by surrounding municipalities, the GRCA and Ontario Ministry of Environment, the well has had no adverse impact on surrounding residential or municipal wells, nearby rivers, lakes and streams, or adjacent flora and fauna during drought and non-drought events over the last 13 years.”
Challinor maintains the source of the current issue is the result of an administrative misunderstanding between the GRCA and MOE last fall, wherein the voluntary request became a mandatory requirement included in one of the company’s permits to take water.
“No other municipal or commercial water users in the watershed would be required to comply in the event of drought except Nestlé Waters, even though many of them draw considerably more water,” Challinor said.
“Other than the fact the GRCA established its protocol to deal with surface water levels and Nestlé Waters draws its water from deep underground sources where there is little hydrogeological connection with rivers and lakes, the issue comes down to a matter of fairness.”
He added, “MOE and Nestlé Waters have since reached a tentative agreement on this matter – and the Ontario Environmental Tribunal recently ruled that draft settlement should be reviewed at a full hearing. The company is currently reviewing that decision.”
