Reminder: Information and Strategizing Meeting Wed. Aug. 8th 7 p.m. on two imminent water privatization threats looming in the Pioneer Valley:a proposed Nestles water bottling operation on the Montague Plains and a proposed state bill that would fast-track water privatization in ALL our state’s municipalities.
Invite all your friends who might be interested in saving our Valley from corporatization of our water, our public resource, by big multinational corporations…..
[FOR NORTHAMPTON RESIDENTS THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT: THIS PAST APRIL THE CITY VOTED NOT TO PRIVATIZE THE NEW WATER FILTRATION PLANT, BUT THERE WERE NO NOTICES SENT OUT ABOUT THAT VOTE AND THEY COULD JUST AS LIKELY HAVE VOTED TO PRIVATIZE. IT IS ALSO NOT A PERMANENT DECISION BUT ONE THAT CAN BE UP FOR REVIEW…….AND WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT DECISIONS OF THIS MAGNITUDE HAVE MAXIMUM PUBLIC DISCUSSION ABOUT THE RAMIFICATIONS BEFORE A DECISION IS MADE AND WE ARE LEFT DISCUSSING ONLY THE SITE OF THE PLANT……]
This is the first of two meetings planned: tomorrow (Wed. Aug. 8th, 7 p.m.) at the Pathways co-housing Common House in Florence. Directions: Go to Florence Road, between Burt Pitts and Rte 66, turn into a street called Mountain Laurel Path and drive to the end of the street until you see a parking lot. The Common House is a big building (it will be lighted up) directly facing the parking lot.
Second Meeting will be one week later in the Montague area, Aug. 16th in Monday, time and place still TBA. Stay tuned
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE NESTLE’S issue and the statewide bill, HB 3216, go to: http://www.shays2.org/
the website of Shays 2: Western Mass Committee on Corporations and Democracy
Recap: These two issues seem separate but are related. One, the Nestle’s request to test spring water on the Montague Plains (state land run by the Fish & Wildlife Commission), appears to threaten the water supply of the surrounding hill towns if Nestle’s should seek this site (it is looking over the Northeast for more sites for its bottled water).
However, if a precedent that state land can be used for such corporate purposes is set, it makes all of us vulnerable — as there is a big move to private water for bottling AND for shipping overseas in big tankers to dry countries for profit.l We in this area have valuable fresh water which is now becoming as precious as oil.
The second issue, the HB 3216, if passed (it may be up for discussion in the next month or two at the state house) would make it possible for municipalities to decide to bring in multinational private water companies to run their water and waste water treatment plants, giving them access to water and possibly for sale. (see Shays 2 website for more on this.)
We in the upper AND lower Valley need to organize around both these connected issues.
For more information on the larger context of these issues, see the new book Thirst: the Corporate Theft of Our Water, by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, who were on Democracy Now! Last week. (go listen to it.)
Their book gives the national overview (as their film of the same name gave an international overview) of the corporate battle to own water.
They spoke about the battles in our own Western Mass, in Lee and Holyoke, against big multinational water company. (We in Shays 2 were deeply involved in Holyoke and have some lessons learned to share in the organizing of this upcoming struggle. We were somewhat involved in Lee where we cut our teeth in organizing on this and connecting the dots between “privatization consultant” all over MA and the US.
Thirst has two chapter on Western Mass issues AND two chapters on the history of Nestle’s way of operating in the state’s of Michigan and Wisconsin. Essential reading for all water activists.
Please insist that your local librarians order it ASAP. There seem to be no copies in the Western Mass lilbrary system!!!!
Hoping to see you all at one of the two upcoming meetings (8/8 in Florence and 8/16 in the Montague area).
If you receive this email and are not on the mailing list, reply to me and I will put you on.
Carolyn Toll Oppenheim, for Shays 2, working in collaboration with many groups now forming.
carolyn@publicpurposecommunications.com
