A loophole we can live without

The Toronto Star had a front page story the other day about a pact before Congress designed to stop diversion of Great Lakes water that may contain a giant loophole that would allow bottlers to siphon as much H20 as they want, provided they ship it in small containers. The warning came from noted U.S. environmental attorney James Olsen.

Reported The Star:

"Among other concerns, Olson criticizes an exemption in the Great Lakes Compact allowing water to be removed by private industry as long as it's not "bulk diversion" –- in other words, restricted to containers no more than 20 litres in Canada or 5.7 gallons in the U.S., with no limit on the number of containers a business, such as a bottler, can sell.

"That means an important legal precedent has been set giving water a 'product' exemption from the diversion ban on Great Lakes water at the heart of the deal. It is a product to be exploited for private gain, and not to be recognized as a public trust.

"While Olson is worried about the gradual loss of water levels through the activities of, say, bottling companies, under current limitations, he predicts these quantitative restrictions will turn out to be mere formalities destined to be overturned in court challenges.

"The agreement has been reported to have a veneer of glory around it, but it's much less than that," Olson said.

This does not sound good.

Jerry Zremski has a story in today's News on the status of the bill in Congress.

Comments

[Celtic Tide]

Great idea Bobbycat, we should create the NYS Bottled Water Authority to make sure that the operation is managed properly and the "right" people get "taken care of".

Art, what is the definition of Lake? You must be an attorney.

[Art Klein]

This can be a serious loophole in the fact that what does it matter if they send 12 million gallons of water to Arizona each month or bottle it? the loss to the Great Lakes will be the same.

Another problem is the fact that the waters of the Great Lakes are not really defined. The Federal Jurisdiction extends to the ordinary high water line but if you pump chemicals into Newstead's aquifer it will end up in the Great Lakes. Are these underlying aquifers part of the Great Lakes?

[BobbyCat]

I'm not worried about Great Lakes water being bottled and sold. Beer or soft drinks can be bottled, tranported and sold, so what's the diff, a little syrup?

I would sooner see the Erie County Water Authority add a bottling plant adjacent to it's treatment facility and ship our water to all points. Let the taxpayers reap some profits for a change.

Massive drainage diversions are a different story, however.