Believing they were misled by the Ministry of Environment, local advocacy group Wellington Water Watchers wants an extension on public input into the current water permit renewal applications for Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh.
Triton Water, who purchased the Nestle Waters division earlier this year, has applied for renewals of their water taking permits at the two locations.
Arlene Slocombe, executive director of WWW said she met with ministry representatives on April 7, and it was understood that ministry staff would notify WWW when Triton Water Canada Holdings, Inc.’s request to renew the permit to take water would be posted. Permits include a 30 day public consultation period.
However, she says the group was not informed and felt it was a little sneaky of the ministry to slide the proposal in without informing them.
“If they do it quietly, it minimizes the public comment that comes in. In a democracy we want to encourage public comment, we want to encourage the opportunity to make an informed comment which takes time to look at the permit to look at a case and prevent it,” said Slocombe.
“I would say that it's shocking minimally because we were all on that call on April 7 and it was a very big part of our conversation.”
In an email this week, Michael Prusinski from the ministry stated that the ministry did receive a request to extend the consultation period and is currently considering it. A decision will be made this week.
The applications were posted on the ministry web site on April 23. The consultation period for both permits expires on May 23.
Slocombe said people are really activated on this topic and the WWW wants the public to have an opportunity to comment on this issue, however, there is not much time left in the 30 day period and so the WWW wants an extension on the proposal period.
“The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has the authority to extend the consultation period to 90 days if there is significant public interest,” said Slocombe adding that their issue on this case, in particular, is with the ministry.
"Thousands of people have made submissions to the Environment Registry of Ontario on past applications. As WWW and other stakeholders are only now learning of this notice, and there are only two weeks left now for public submissions. The ministry must extend consultation to the full 90 days.”
Andreanne Simard, natural resource manager at BlueTriton Brands, said it was always their intention once the moratorium ended, to continue to seek renewal of permits for Aberfoyle and Erin.
“We are pleased to see our permit applications posted and stand with the science and data that support these applications. We are proud of our long history of conservation, supporting the communities as an employer and contributor to local organizations, as well as maintaining open and transparent communications,” said Simard in an email.
“We look forward to the opportunity to participate in the consultation process and encourage open dialogue.”
WWW has been advocating for the health of groundwater in southern Ontario and the Grand River Watershed for many years.
Slocombe said while the group advocates for many issues, the issue of bottled water has always been the top concern.
She said through a poll conducted by the WWW across Ontario in 2018, the group learned that 68 per cent of people wanted to see permits for the purpose of bottling water phased out of the province.
Simard said BlueTriton Brands supports policies in Ontario that are grounded in science and that have a fair, objective approval process.
“The Government of Ontario’s Science and Policy Review was conducted in 2020, and, confirmed that water-takings for bottling purposes is managed sustainably and that there is no scientific justification for regulating water bottlers any differently than other water users,” said Simard.
Slocombe said that the permits for the Aberfoyle bottling complex and Hillsburgh well previously belonged to Nestlé Waters Canada and have been on an indefinite extension since 2016 and 2017 respectively while awaiting the new regulations for water taking.
She said the ministry created a new framework to allow the public to comment which is why it feels incumbent to allow the public to be able to comment now that a new company has entered the picture — one they were waiting for.
“Now they've undermined what I think to be due process and good behaviour,” said Slocombe.
Slocombe said in this case, it feels like it is the ministry that is responsible for informing the public on the permit renewal around their own framework, whereas Triton is just responding to the current regulatory laws in place since Nestlé was around.
However, she said the group wants to know why Triton would come to an area to bottle water where there has already been significant backlash from the community.
“We really want this company to know that the trouble Nestlé engaged around this is not going away. We're here and the troubles are still really present including the very pertinent one right here at the Aberfoyle plant,” said Slocombe referring to the cease and desist order members from the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy delivered to Nestlé in 2019.
“That has not gone away. There are a lot of conversations on what authority and right do,” said Slocombe.
