Maine Communities Assert Right to Water, Deny Corporate Rights
Published May 12, 2009 @ 04:41PM PT
There was a news flash on the Alliance for Democracy blog this week about another effort in Maine to both the rights of a community to its water and the rights of an ecosystem to "exist, flourish, and evolve." A proposed ordinance in Wells, ME, would deny constitutional rights to corporations within the town of Wells while guaranteeing greater water rights to the town's residents. You can read more here:
http://afd-headlines.blogspot.com/2009/05/vote-to-test-corporate-water-rights.html
This follows on the heels of an ordinance passed in Shapleigh, ME, earlier this year, in which residents denounced corporations for acting as a modern-day colonial power in their attempts to strip the town of one of its natural resources, then shipping it elsewhere for profit. The focus in Shapleigh and Wells centers on Poland Springs, a subsidiary of Nestle. Because land rights and mineral rights (for minerals or resources underneath the land) are generally kept separate legally, Nestle can tap into underground water resources without paying anything in return, even if their tapping of a given aquifer greatly affects other public and private uses of that water.
You can read more about Shapleigh's success by one of its own organizers, Jamilla El-Shafei, here: http://socialistworker.org/2009/03/04/maine-rejects-corporate-control
And check out the Defend Water for Life campaign as well as the Save Our Water campaign for more news and ideas for action.
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Author
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Megan Wade Antieau
- Eureka, CA
