[The following is Laurie Dobson’s response to the July 3 editorial, “Dobson’s misrepresentations unacceptable]
Editor:
Everyone in the KKW Water District should watch this video of the water district’s meeting, when the trustees decided whether or not to make a contract with Nestle. We as residents must understand what we are facing and what are our options, regarding this very important irreversible decision. Go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvMaAhvmbs4.
The newly organized group, SOH2O (Save our Water), is having weekly meetings to organize this effort to oppose the privatization of water in our area. They will need everybody’s support to stop the decision to sign on with Nestle.
If the residents in our area let this slide, we’ll be exposed to the very same problems other communities have had wherever Nestle, a.ka Poland Spring Water, has tapped into the public water supplies in the groundwater levels.
Our vulnerability is due to a lack of protective legislation or oversight from DEP. We currently have no integrated legislation protecting both our groundwaters and our surficial waters. They are tied together and we must protect them both, not just on the surface but also below our feet.
Once a multi-national corporation has rights over our local municipal water district, even the PUC may not be able to defend itself from WTO laws, under NAFTA. In short, we may not have the ability to stop this water mining, once it’s begun. This is a Pandora’s Box which nobody, not even water district Superintendent Mr. Labbe understands, by his own admission.
We must protect our aquifers, our underwater drinking sources. There is no sure way to predict our future weather patterns. Mr. Labbe, says that we will have plenty of water in our region, but how can he predict future weather patterns, which could easily include floods, hurricanes, fires or drought, each of which could affect our water quality? How can he be certain? How can we put our water at risk for a half-century contract with a private multi-national corporation with a very bad record? Can we afford to be duped out of our water rights with no secure protections?
We are going too fast. There is no hurry and everything is to be gained by waiting and getting independent environmental assessments not controlled by Nestle. We must not rush into a fool’s bargain. This issue is too important to avoid or delay looking into. Nobody should think that time is on our side. By the time we get involved and active on this issue, it could already be decided.
I hope that the media who were not present at this meeting are all properly alerted to the severity of this crisis hitting our local area and will do all that they can do to attend every future meeting on the public’s behalf.
It will take all of us working together to stop this massive corporate effort to: (1.) swamp our area with their PR, (2.) manipulate our goodwill (3.) push our trustees to ‘sign on the dotted line...” and give away our local controls (4.) change our laws to protect themselves, (5.) drain us of our beautiful pure spring water, the source of life in our towns, and then (6.) pull out and leave us high and dry.
Let’s be smarter than this! Lets fight the good fight for the sake of our children and their right to a non-polluted coastland. Let’s make sure that we keep Maine the way life should be, here in Kennebunk/Kennebunkport, Wells and Ogunquit. Let’s take care of our own. Think globally but act locally, and immediately!
Laurie Dobson
Kennebunkport