Lawsuit Filed by Michigan Indian Bands Against The Perrier Group of America's Water Bottling Project is Baseless

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Lawsuit Filed by Michigan Indian Bands Against The Perrier Group of America's Water Bottling Project is Baseless

ALABAMA, STANWOOD, Mar. 1 -/E-Wire/Business Wire/-- A lawsuit filed this week in federal court by three Indian bands against

The Perrier Group of America and the State of Michigan is baseless and

ignores extensive hydrogeologic and environmental assessments. These

assessments, among the most comprehensive ever done in the Great

Lakes region, have shown the Mecosta County water- bottling project is

safe and presents no adverse risk to the environment.

The suit cites the U.S. Water Resources Development Act and wrongly

claims that water withdrawn for bottling for drinking is a diversion of Great

Lakes water and must be approved by the eight Great Lakes governors,

under the provisions of the WRDA.

Two diversions, Chicago River and New York Barge Canal, move millions of

gallons of water each and every minute out of the Great Lakes. The water

bottling facility by contrast will use just 150 - 400 gallons per minute of

According to the U.S.-Canadian International Joint Commission on the

Great Lakes (IJC) and the Great Lakes Charter, bottling drinking water as

a commercial product within the Great Lakes basin is a "consumptive' use

of the water, and not a diversion. Bottled drinking water is a regulated

The IJC has stated that the bottled water industry uses such a small

amount of water that it has no effect on overall water levels in the Great

Lakes basin. There are many water bottlers already established in

Michigan. The Perrier Group will be the thirty-sixth to be licensed to bottle

The determination that bottling water for drinking is a consumptive use

reflects the following findings:

---- Bottled water and other beverages are no different than any

other product that includes water or use water in their

production processes, such as beer, soft drinks, reconstituted

juices, baby food, soup and hundreds of other products produced

in the Great Lakes region.

---- The water is immediately processed and packaged into a food

product regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and

Michigan Department of Agriculture.

---- Bottled water, packaged in small containers, is intended for

people to drink, the highest and best use of the resource.

---- Bottled water businesses provide substantial economic benefits

to their communities, the surrounding area and to the state.

A number of Great Lakes governors, including George Pataki (New York),

Bob Taft (Ohio) and Frank O'Bannon (Indiana) have agreed with the

position taken by Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)

and the Engler Administration that the WRDA does not apply to The Perrier

Group's water bottling operation. As Gov. John Engler has noted, Perrier's

planned water withdrawals fall far below the five million gallons per day

that would require approvals from each of the eight Great Lakes

governors and the two Canadian Great Lakes premiers under the Great

The suit also falsely alleges the water-bottling project could somehow

harm the bands' rights to hunt and fish, despite IJC findings that bottle

waters have no impact on lake levels.

Extensive assessments prepared by Michigan-based professional

hydrogeologic firm Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. and reviewed and approved by

state and federal officials have shown clearly the planned water

withdrawals will not have an adverse impact on the aquifer, or on inland

lakes, streams and rivers, or on any residential water wells. Additional

studies have been performed to assess the potential effect of water

withdrawals on fish and other wildlife habitats and these studies show

that there will be no impact.

"Our business and the long-term viability of springs as a source for our

natural bottled spring water depend on our ensuring that our operations

will not in any way diminish the health and vigor of the water resource,'

said Perrier Group of America Natural Resource Manager Rodney

Allen. "Our permitapplication, which contained our hydrogeologic and

environmental studies, received the most comprehensive review ever

conducted by the MDEQ.'

"We would be pleased to talk with members of the bands about the

project and the measures we are taking to protect the environment. We

know this is important to all Michigan's citizens and Michigan's water

resources are a unique recreational and economic resource of this state.'

This suit is one of several attempts orchestrated by Traverse City-based

law firm Olson and Bzdok and a project opponent group to use the legal

system to derail the $100 million Mecosta County project. One suit was

rejected by a Mecosta County court; the second voluntarily withdrawn; a

third suit, which is vague, is pending.

The bottling plant, which will employ 200 people, mostly drawn from the

local area, has already hired more than 50 people to work in the plant.

Local governments and school systems are expected to receive more than

$700,000 annually from tax payments by the plant. The plant will begin

operations this spring.

This news release and the attachments can be viewed at

www.mrgmi.com . For more information about The Perrier Group of

America's Michigan water bottling project, please log on to

www.michigan4icemountain.org .

The Perrier Group of America

Marketing Resource Group,ÃÂ [REDACTED-PHONE]

http://www.mrgmi.com

http://http://www.michigan4icemountain.org

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