U.S. Water News Online
LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan Court of Appeals dug into a dispute over a bottled-water company's ability to pump spring water from wells, weighing the competing interests of businesses, other landowners and nature lovers who have a stake in a valuable state resource: water.
The case directly involves an Ice Mountain Spring Water plant in Mecosta County, which is opposed by local residents and property owners who say groundwater withdrawals are unsuitable for the environment because they drop water levels and flows in neighboring lakes, streams and wetlands.
But the lawsuit may be important on a statewide scale because the three-judge panel could set legal rules for pumping groundwater. The oral arguments came three weeks after the administration of Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced it will reverse long-standing policy and regulate any future groundwater withdrawals that would change the size of an inland lake, stream or river.
Adam Charnes -- an attorney for Ice Mountain's parent company, Nestle Water North America Inc. -- told the court that Nestle's use of the spring water is reasonable and safe for the environment. He argued that pumping the water, bottling it and shipping it around the Midwest is no different from companies using water to make soft drinks, chemicals or any other products.
"I don't think the law can make a distinction between a Coca-Cola plant, a potato plant or Nestle Waters," Charnes said.
He also argued that Nestle uses a small amount of water compared with other manufacturers. According to Nestle spokeswoman Deborah Muchmore, water bottlers who pump their own water account for less than 1/100th of 1 percent of water use in Michigan.
But Jim Olson, an attorney for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, said bottled water distributors should be regarded differently than municipal water plants, farmers, golf courses and others who use groundwater locally -- not elsewhere.
"We should not sacrifice water, our economy and hundreds of thousands of jobs that depend on this water so a foreign company can sell it somewhere else and deposit money in its own bank account," Olson said.
At least 30 members of the citizens group traveled to Lansing for the oral arguments.
Nestle Waters, based in Greenwich, Conn., is the country's largest bottled-water company. It opened its Mecosta County plant in May 2002 despite objections from some residents. The residents had sued in June 2001.
Mecosta County Circuit Judge Lawrence Root in November 2003 ordered Nestle to stop drawing water from the wells, saying the withdrawals caused a "material diminishment" of water flows and levels in neighboring lakes, streams and wetlands. That decision has been put on hold during Nestle's appeal, allowing the company to continue pumping water.
During arguments, Judges William Murphy, Michael Smolenski and Helene White asked questions about the potential effects of their ruling.
Murphy wondered if it was possible that common law does not specifically address the type of dispute involving groundwater withdrawals and the rights of other riparian, or waterfront, property owners, and speculated that new laws may be needed.
"It may be that the entire situation is ripe for legislative involvement," he said.
In late May, besides changing course on regulating groundwater withdrawals, Granholm also slapped a moratorium on new or expanded bottled water operations in Michigan until the Legislature enacts a water withdrawal law.
The state Department of Environmental Quality approved a permit for Nestle to buy water from the city of Evart's municipal system for bottling at its Mecosta County plant. The permit requires the water from Evart to be sold only within the Great Lakes basin, which the company labeled unprecedented and unfair.
Overall, there are about 20 bottled-water operations in Michigan.
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