Over the course of the last winter, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality held a public comment period on Nestle again asking to increase the amount of water that they take from a well in Osceola Township, Michigan. Clean Water Action members from across the state made their voices heard, and submitted more than 5,000 public comments calling for the state to deny Nestle’s permit request.
The DEQ has still not made a decision on whether or not to approve the permit request. They have recently asked Nestle to re-evaluate the pumping impact on wetlands near their Osceola Township well, and those wetlands would likely be devastated if Nestle’s permit application is approved and they begin pumping water at 400 gallons per minute.
In order for Nestle to increase the amount of water they are pumping, they would need to build a new pump station, which has to be permitted through the Osceola Township Planning Commission. In April 2017, the planning commission voted to deny the permit and not allow Nestle to build the new pump station. As of July, Nestle is now suing Osceola Township, in an effort to get their decision reversed and allow for the pump station to be built. We will continue to monitor this issue and share updates as things unfold.
For more information or to volunteer with Clean Water Action, please contact Sean McBrearty at smcbrearty@cleanwater.org.
