Nestlé – “To Be or Not To Be” in Cascade Locks

By Azor Cole. April 7, 2016

[media-credit name=”Jurgen Hess” align=”alignleft” width=”400″][/media-credit]

Nestlé, the multi-billion dollar Swiss-based transnational company, is without a Northwest water bottling plant.  It currently ships bottled water from California to west coast markets. In 2008, Cascade Locks came to Nestlé’s attention as a potential site. Its geographic location, coupled with its depressed economy, seemed to be favorable conditions for Nestlé and potential for the town to accept the proposal and promise of increased economic prosperity.

What has been an easy sell to some people, others opposed. The basic schism runs like this:

Those in favor cite that Nestlé has promised the water bottling plant will create 50 jobs. A 2013 Oregon State study concludes this number could be more like 356 when all is said and done. Additionally, the construction of the proposed $50 million plant would nearly double the town’s property taxes. Those concerned about the high unemployment rate in Cascade Locks (16.7 percent in early 2016, Oregon Employment Department) want to take advantage of this economic opportunity.

Those opposed point out Nestlé’s spotty track record when dealing with towns similar to Cascade Locks and lambaste the company for its human rights breaches internationally. Some are worried that there is no guarantee that any jobs created by the plant will go to town residents.There is concern about the increasing scarcity of water and the importance of  water to farms and fisheries. The recent drought and huge forest fires brought the importance of water to everyone’s attention. Additionally, the Treaties of 1855 between the United States and four Columbia River tribes bestowed them senior water rights further impacting the issue for Nestlé.

The pros and cons of the proposed bottling plant are complicated and the debate has been going on since 2008. However, closure could arrive next month.

Local Water Alliance (LWA), launched in 2015 by a group of local citizens opposed to Nestlé’s proposed bottling plant. They gathered over 1,600 signatures (exceeding the requirement of 497) in order to file a county-wide measure that would “prohibit commercial bottled water production in Hood River County.” The measure will be on the Hood River County ballot this May.

Aurora del Val, the campaign spokesperson for LWA, urges county voters to think long-term when casting their ballot. “We don’t know what the future holds for us,” de Val said in an email to Envirogorge. De Val and the LWA hope to set a blueprint of resistance for towns of similar geographic and economic backgrounds to follow when approached by large, transnational corporations like Nestlé. “We just don’t think it makes sense to take a public resource like water, put it in plastic, and then sell it again as water.”

Below is a video by the Local Water Alliance and Food and Water Watch.

The City Council of Cascade Locks has, for the most part, been in favor of the bottling plant from the start. Deanna Busdieker, the sole City Councilor opposed to the plant, expressed in an email to Enviorgorge that she believes the City Council has failed to seriously listen to concerns of engaged citizens, but is pleased that the LWA has taken action on the issue.

“The ballot measure is a direct result of city officials refusing to listen to their citizens. If the conversation that was repeatedly asked for had been provided, I believe the Local Water Alliance may not have felt such drastic measures were needed,” wrote Busdieker.

[media-credit name=”………..Deanna Busdieker” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]

The town meetings about the proposed bottling plant which Busdieker alludes to have been rife with resident worry. Gordon Zimmerman, the City Administrator for Cascade Locks and a prominent government voice advocating for Nestlé’s presence, does his best to quell concerns.

Zimmerman wrote in an email to Envirogorge, “In simplest terms, a Nestlé bottling plant in Cascade Locks would provide stable funding for the city government through a substantial increase in property tax collections and increased utility fees. These increases not only benefit the city as an institution, but because the increased revenues are substantial, the utility rates may be stable for a long time.”

David Palais, Nestlé’s spokesman for the Cascade Locks project, echoes this sentiment in writing to Envirogorge, “If [the upcoming May measure is] passed, this measure would prevent the opportunity to bring in new, good-paying family wage jobs to the community and would negatively impact economic development in Hood River County.”

This long-term economic growth argument carries weight with some residents of Cascade Locks, particularly those who disdain outside intervention, most of which is anti-Nestlé, seeping into the debate. Cascade Locks has struggled economically since the decline of its timber industry that began in the late 1960s, and many feel that the opinions of non-locals, most of whom are from more affluent areas within the state or represent national non-profits, are unwanted distractions.

Deborah Lorang, a resident of Cascade Locks, wrote to Envirogorge, “It makes us mad that outsiders look down their noses at our community for using a plentiful and renewable resource. It would be nice if people would focus on environmental abusers, misusers and pollution in their own cities first, and leave us alone.”

Below is a video by Nestlé about the project showing some residents of Cascade Locks that are for the proposed plant.

Food and Water Watch, a national nonprofit with a history of being critical of Nestlé, is one of these outside groups which Lorang’s words speak to. Julia DeGraw, the group’s Northwest Organizer, took some time to explain her organization’s opposition to the deal in an email to Envirogorge, emphasizing that this is not a situation unique to Cascade Locks, and a historical understanding of past dynamics with Nestlé and similar towns is crucial.

DeGraw wrote, “Nestlé has a nasty track record in Michigan, Maine, and California just to name a few states. In the San Bernardino National Park Nestlé is pumping millions of gallons of water per year on expired permits and for almost no money. The lack of permits make its operation illegal in a state suffering from an ongoing drought.”

Palais counters this accusation by pointing to Nestlé’s national philanthropic efforts in addition to the monetary and bottled water donations, worth more than $60,000 that the company has already donated to Cascade Locks as of 2015.

May’s ballot is the summation of prolonged struggle and discord, both internally and externally, between Cascade Locks and Nestlé. This battle has lasted over seven years, spanned three governors and now, fittingly, will be decided by the people. Perhaps best put by Councilwoman Busdieker, “This is democracy in action, and it’s kind of thrilling.”