janiecakes
TRIBE Member
from today's Star:
Ontario to charge bottlers for water
CANADIAN PRESS
Companies that extract water for commercial purposes such as bottlers are going to have to pay a royalty for the resource, the Ontario government announced today.
The government also imposed a year-long moratorium on new permits to extract water as it studies the impact on watersheds, said Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky.
"The days of taking water away for free are over," said Dombrowsky.
Dombrowsky noted that companies that log forests or drill for oil have to pay fees and follow provincial regulations, a situation that hasn't applied to those who extract water from underground or rivers or lakes once the permit was issued.
"Water bottlers and others who remove water out of a watershed cannot be permitted to just take more and more water," Dombrowsky said.
"We need to fully understand the consequences of takings on both the watershed and local water supplies."
Protection of water sources has been a major issue since the Walkerton tragedy in May 2000, when seven people died and 2,500 fell ill after their drinking water was contaminated with E. coli bacteria from farm run-off.
The Environment Ministry has also come under fire for having lost track of the thousands of permits to take water issued over the years.
In his report on the tragedy, Associate Chief Justice Dennis O'Connor recommended tighter controls on the permits as an integral part of protecting sources of drinking water in the province.
The moratorium does not apply to municipalities or their ability to ensure residents have enough water, or to farms.
It does apply to bottlers, concrete makers and any manufacturer who uses 50,000 litres of water or more in a day.
Existing permit holders can continue to draw water - but the maximum amount will be frozen.
Bottlers have argued they shouldn't be singled out.
Ontario to charge bottlers for water
CANADIAN PRESS
Companies that extract water for commercial purposes such as bottlers are going to have to pay a royalty for the resource, the Ontario government announced today.
The government also imposed a year-long moratorium on new permits to extract water as it studies the impact on watersheds, said Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky.
"The days of taking water away for free are over," said Dombrowsky.
Dombrowsky noted that companies that log forests or drill for oil have to pay fees and follow provincial regulations, a situation that hasn't applied to those who extract water from underground or rivers or lakes once the permit was issued.
"Water bottlers and others who remove water out of a watershed cannot be permitted to just take more and more water," Dombrowsky said.
"We need to fully understand the consequences of takings on both the watershed and local water supplies."
Protection of water sources has been a major issue since the Walkerton tragedy in May 2000, when seven people died and 2,500 fell ill after their drinking water was contaminated with E. coli bacteria from farm run-off.
The Environment Ministry has also come under fire for having lost track of the thousands of permits to take water issued over the years.
In his report on the tragedy, Associate Chief Justice Dennis O'Connor recommended tighter controls on the permits as an integral part of protecting sources of drinking water in the province.
The moratorium does not apply to municipalities or their ability to ensure residents have enough water, or to farms.
It does apply to bottlers, concrete makers and any manufacturer who uses 50,000 litres of water or more in a day.
Existing permit holders can continue to draw water - but the maximum amount will be frozen.
Bottlers have argued they shouldn't be singled out.
