One of the biggest food companies in the world, Nestle, is currently having trouble with the government for hoarding millions of gallons of water from the San Bernardino National Forest in California. IB Times reported that though the company is not yet facing any direct charges for what they did, the U.S. Forest Service is being sued by the Environmental and Public Interest Groups due to them breaking federal laws for allowing Nestle to hoard that amount of water in the area.
The group stated that Nestle's permit in doing such an act has already been expired about 30 years ago and yet they are still performing the acquisition of water in California's ground. The document says that Nestle has been removing 50 million to 150 million gallons of water annually from the said forest for their bottled water business. They have not been allowed to do it since 1988 when their permit reached its end.
Courage Campaign Institute's environmental director, Eddie Kurtz, told the Guardian, "We believe that Nestlé's actions aren't just morally bankrupt, they are illegal." He continued saying, "Quite simply we'd like to see Nestlé stop taking California's public water and turning it into private profit when there is no water to spare."
Another environmentalist said something about this on going situation and he is the executive director for Story of Stuff, an organization that takes care of consumer culture. He said, "They [Nestle] are taking water from a national forest that desperately needs that water. The Forest Service is obligated by law to ensure the natural resources of the forest are protected."
The group who is brave enough to file this law suit added on their complaint as reported by USA Today, the "removal of large amounts of water at the highest elevations of the watershed is having an environmental impact at the well, borehole, and tunnel sites as well as throughout the entire downstream watershed."
Meanwhile, Nestle is denying all these accusations towards them and insisting that their permit is not expired and they are doing things legally.
