“Pop Culture in a Bottle” - The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century - page 256

and an army of volunteers worked to get the 50,700 signatures required to put the issue
on the ballot. Momentum built slowly. Wilfong's allies complained bitterly about Nestlé's
fleet of fifty to one hundred silver tanker trucks that rumble through town at all hours,
and the resulting road wear and traffic accidents. Others griped about Maine's water
being siphoned off by “foreigners” who enjoyed large tax breaks; still others muttered
darkly of alleged bribery, quiet secret land deals, and influence peddling—claiming that
“the long tentacles” of Nestlé had co-opted the state. (I have seen no evidence to support
these claims.)
Meanwhile, Kim Jefery , CEO of Nestlé Waters North America (based in Greenwich,
Connecticut, incorporated in Delaware), unleashed a PR offensive. Flying to Portland,
Jeffery hired Maine's leading law irm and the former state geologist as consultants—or,
as Wilfong charged, “to take them off the table, so we couldn't use them.” Jeffery argued
that with all the rain that Maine gets, Nestlé's withdrawals were too small to have any
negative impact on aquifers, and, besides, they were renewable. He stressed that Po-
land Spring plants were “clean, modern, and environmentally responsible” operations
that provide well-paid jobs and give generously to their neighbors. He said that H 2 O for
ME and other groups were a “threat to jobs” and that their proposed “$100 million tax”
would exceed Poland Spring's annual profit and could very well “drive us out of Maine.”
Wilfong stiffened his resolve. “Nestlé is very sophisticated,” he told me. “They say,
'What's good for Nestlé is good for Maine.' They've been tossing money at the big en-
vironmental organizations, who have remained curiously silent on the water issue. They
give money to local schools and volunteer ire departments. You need topics at the lib-
rary? A new sign on the road? How about a cross-country ski trail? Nestlé is happy to
help. This is how they have worked their way into local water districts. They do the same
thing all across the country. How can local people fight against that?”
The dispute over Poland Spring exposed social fissures in Maine, pitting blue-collar
workers against the increasing numbers of retirees, environmentalists, and white-collar
baby boomers moving to the state. he commissioner of the state Department of Con-
servation said that Maine has “an endless supply of water.” Governor John Baldacci
equated Poland Spring to L.L. Bean as a promoter of Maine as a symbol of quality to the
nation.
In early 2005, Wilfong's petition drive failed. In 2007, he and his allies proposed a
new system that would give the state greater control in monitoring and controlling its
water and would require water companies to bid against one another for the right to
sink new wells, with proceeds going to the state. Poland Spring and Governor Baldacci
pushed back hard against the plan . But the debate led to a discussion in the state legis-
lature, which resulted in greater transparency about water-bottling operations, and en-
hanced data collection about the impacts of the growing business on aquifers and wells.