FL Gov. Crist: Water pumped by Nestle and others from FL's springs and aquifers FOR FREE should end

seafan

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Mon Mar-02-09 11:14 AM
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FL Gov. Crist: Water pumped by Nestle and others from FL's springs and aquifers FOR FREE should end

It is about time. Florida's precious spring and aquifer water resources are being pillaged every single day by giant corporations such as Nestle Waters of North America, Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co, along with twenty other bottled water companies in Florida.

This is one of the most egregious thefts of our resources that our devious ex-governor Jeb Bush never lifted a pudgy finger to stop. In fact, he was an aggressive advocate for Nestle, as he allowed the corporation to continue pumping as much water as possible without compensation for the state, and he then slathered Nestle with tax breaks for good measure.

With Jeb Bush, it never WAS, and NEVER WILL BE about the good of the people of Florida. Or anywhere else in the United States.

I have to applaud Governor Crist for taking action now.

IVAN PENN | Times (2008)
Madison Blue Springs, where Nestle pays not a dime to pump water.

Florida seeks per-gallon water fee from bottlers

By Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
March 2, 2009

LEE � In a rural North Florida town where the water tower bears the motto "Tiny but Proud," residents have a big secret: They give the cold, clear spring water that bubbles up from the aquifer below their soil to the nation's largest bottled water company � for free.
Every day, Nestle Waters of North America sucks up an estimated 500,000 gallons from Madison Blue Springs, a limestone basin a mile north of town. It pipes the 70-degree water to its massive bottling plant and distribution center, fills 102,000 plastic containers an hour, pastes on Deer Park or Zephyrhills labels, boxes it up and ships half of it out of state.

The cost to the company for the water: a one-time $150 local water permit. Like 22 other bottled water companies in Florida, including giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co., Nestle's profit is 10 to 100 times the cost of each bottle.

And the payment to Florida? Not a dime.

Gov. Charlie Crist wants to change that. He is proposing a 6-cents-a-gallon state tax on water used for commercial water-bottling purposes.
"It's a resource of the state, and if you're going to withdraw it for a profit, we should charge you for that use," said Mike Sole, secretary of the Department of Environmental Resources, which has been developing the governor's proposal for the past six months.

The DEP estimates the fee would apply to about 5.4 million gallons a day � the amount it believes is pumped from state springs and aquifers by bottlers from Coca-Cola's Dasani to Publix. The estimate does not include water taken from municipal water supplies.
The so-called "severance fee'' would be phased in, producing an estimated $56 million the first year, according to the governor's office. The money would be used to finance water projects like desalination plants and other alternatives to traditional water supplies. Making the money even more attractive: The fund that currently finances those projects faces a $15 million deficit since the documentary stamp tax dedicated to water projects dried up in the real estate crash.
If the fee is passed on to consumers, the cost of a pint-sized bottle of water would increase less than a penny.

It's a major shift in position for the department, prompted by Crist, which until December had collected no data on bottled water use in Florida, and takes a hands-off approach to its regulation. The Florida Department of Agriculture's Division of Food Safety makes sure bottlers have approval from local water management districts to withdraw the water, but no state agency tests bottled water. Crist's proposal wouldn't change that.

Instead, Crist's plan would treat water like phosphate, oil or natural gas, all mined from the ground. Companies that extract those natural resources from which they profit pay fees or royalties to the state. ....."Most people won't see this as an unfair tax," said Eric Draper of the Florida Audubon Society.
Crist, who has carefully avoided being associated with any tax increases, could be spared from repercussions on this one, Draper predicts: "This will be very popular with ordinary people who do see that these companies are taking something for free and putting it in bottles and charging a lot more."

The profits on water are huge, but the raw material is free, by Ivan Penn, Times Staff Writer, March 16, 2008

An excerpt:

Nestle had a key ally at the meeting: the state of Florida, in the form of the economic development entity, Enterprise Florida Inc.

.....

To the disappointment of those working to protect the springs, Nestle got its wish.

Jim Stevenson, chairman of the Florida springs task force, said that with the staff recommending against the permit, the governing board should have made some adjustments.
"I would side with the staff," Stevenson said. In protecting the springs, "the responsibility lies with the water management district. They're the ones that have to ensure that our springs remain healthy.

"Once you get up to the board, these are political appointees," he said. "The step up from that is governor, in that he appoints the board members for the water management district."

Jeb Bush, who was governor at the time, did not respond to questions about Nestle's Madison County operations.

.....

The state did much more than fight to get Nestle the right to pump as much water as possible from the spring.
As an added incentive for Nestle, the state approved a tax refund of up to $1.68-million for the Madison bottling operation. To date, Nestle has received two refunds totaling $196,000 and requested a third tax refund.

.....

Many more special report articles from the St. Petersburg Times here:

2008 special report: Water's Edge � Inside Florida's water