Dear Editor:
I live a block and a half away from Nestlé Waters’ Cedar Valley (Hillsburgh) well. For almost a generation I’ve lived with bafflegab and doublespeak – what-ifs, perhaps might’s and could be’s all spoken by virtuous government lobbyists, none of which have come true.
The same fears said of the Cedar Valley well in the past are now the very words I read about the Middlebrook well in the present. If Middlebrook isn’t viable why would Centre Wellington try to purchase it from beneath Nestlé’s feet?
Now, after decades, the only impacts Nestlé has had are:
– provided over $100,000 dollars to my community to spend as we see fit;
– provide good paying jobs for many so perhaps our kids can stay home and not have to move far away;
– purchased adjacent properties allowing them to revert to their natural ecosystems to protect, not exploit, our water source; and
– given $50,000 for recycling in Puslinch Township.
According to 2014 numbers, our county uses 500 million liters of water per day. Bottled water uses 0.6% of the available groundwater. If government lobbyists want a hill to die on they should protest golf courses, which use 1.3% of our available water, primarily in summer.
Imagine being a politician, one who wants to work with business and industry to grow our communities. Imagine the government lobbyists baying for their head. I imagine that’s why Dr. Andreanne Simard, Nestle’s natural resource manager, said “we have sought the opportunity to meet with Centre Wellington to discuss this issue (careful, prudent management of water resources). Unfortunately all of our requests for dialogue have been declined” (Wellington Advertiser, Feb. 20).
Twenty years of bafflegab indeed, I’m sure I’ll hear 20 more. Nestlé Waters have been good corporate neighbours of mine, despite what anti-water government lobbyists would have you believe.
Jeff Cormack,
Hillsburgh