Above photo: From WoodTV.com.
Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) filed a Petition for Contested Case Thursday in opposition to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) decision to issue Permit No. 1701, which was granted to Nestle Waters North America in April and would allow the company to increase its water withdrawal at the White Pine Springs Well (PW-101) in Osceola County, Michigan to 400 gallons per minute (gpm).
MCWC contends that in granting the permit the DEQ violated portions of Section 17 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (MCL 325.1017) and Part 327 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. (MCL 324.32723). These violations are spelled out in the Petition in detail, but in layperson’s terms it can simply be said that the DEQ failed to follow Michigan law.
When the DEQ allowed Nestle to withdraw water from PW-101 in 2009 and again in 2015 at a total of 250 gpm, the DEQ failed to properly utilize the 2008 statutes cited above, and this most recent decision to grant Permit 1701 also fails to compel Nestle’s compliance with Section 17 and Part 327. In all three cases, the DEQ failed to follow the correct process as clearly set out in Michigan law.
For example, after repeated requests to Nestle, the DEQ never obtained the required data on presently existing environment, hydrological and hydrogeological conditions at the site. This failure means that an evaluation of the actual environmental impact of pumping at Nestle’s requested rate of 400 gpm prior to issuing the permit isn’t possible, because the required data was not provided by the Permit Applicant Nestle. In addition, although data from MCWC’s own citizen scientists was requested by the DEQ and submitted by MCWC, as well as other data sets and analyses submitted by experts working in conjunction with FLOW (For Love of Water), that data and those analyses were not given the legally required consideration by the DEQ. In short, the law was bent to allow the permit to go forward, so MCWC insists that the decision must be reversed.
This petition goes to an administrative proceeding with the Michigan Administrative Hearing System which will be heard by an Administrative Law Judge at the DEQ. If the DEQ refuses to withdraw the improperly granted permit, there will eventually be a trial where MCWC will present experts and witnesses demonstrating the DEQ and Nestle’s failure to follow the law. As the permitee, Nestle is nearly certain to intervene in the administrative proceedings so that it can state its position. The proceedings are likely to take several months prior to reaching a conclusion, and given the stakes involved, an appeal by one or more parties is possible.
We ask all our supporters to stay informed on the issues through our website saveMIwater.org. We anticipate that those organizations and individuals who work as defenders of Michigan’s water commons will assist us in paying the bills for this contested permit. It isn’t cheap, but it is necessary. The State must not get away with ignoring its public trust responsibilities and illegally granting Nestle the water of the commons to convert to private profit at the expense of our environment and our use. Over 80,000 people already expressed their opposition and were ignored. Let us hope the DEQ judge will not ignore the provisions of Michigan law.