Consumers Say Businesses Must Help Solve Water Crisis.
Businesses, government and environmental organizations must collaborate to solve the problem of clean drinking water, according to a new report about the major concerns of Americans from Nestle Waters North America (conducted by global research firm PSB).
Americans expected businesses to play a role in ensuring that people have access to clean drinking water (at 35%).
Nelson Switzer, chief sustainability officer of Nestle Waters NA, believes that companies would do well to engage with employees, suppliers, communities, non-profits, policy makers and other stakeholders to drive collaboration and innovation.
“We can accomplish far more together than we can alone,” Switzer says.
In a Q&A with Environmental Leader last month, Switzer pointed out that, though we cannot create water, we cannot destroy it, either.
“Can it be polluted?
In many cases.
Can it serve all the people, the industries, the environmental demands?
“If we manage the system appropriately, the answer is yes,” Switzer said.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn – Last Saturday the Global Water Dance was held in more than 90 locations around the world.
In Minneapolis, local Witch Rae Eden Frank joined other artists and environmentalists to raise awareness about global and local water issues.​ To draw attention to what the Global Water Dance says is a water crisis, performers come together every other year to perform a four part performance.
Ms. Frank, a Reclaiming Witch, says this event fits in closely with her religious ethics.
“My spiritual practices are tied into honoring the earth’s natural cycles and paying attention to the moments.
There is so much beauty in nature and so much beauty.” She says her advocation for environmental justice and equity have encouraged her participation in the Global Water Dance for the past five years, “I believe in access to clean drinking water as a fundamental unquestionable human right.” The Global Water Dance first launched in 2011 in response to UN Resolution 64/292, The Right to Water and Sanitation.
The Minneapolis group says 40% of the state’s 10,000 lakes and 90,000 miles of rivers are are unsafe to fish from or swim in.
They claim this leads to negative impacts on the quality of life Minnesotans enjoy.
They were also careful to note that the location where they performed is a sacred site, stolen from the native Dakota people.
Frank says she uses dance as a form of moving prayer, combined with intention, to shift the energy surrounding the waterways and our relationship to them.
“This is the power of the witch.

Strong audit, future collaboration with area fire protection districts discussed by Ralls County water district.
Rodney Spires, a firefighter with the New London Fire Department, spoke with members of the Board of Directors for the Ralls County Public Water Supply District (PWSD) #1 to thank them for access to water and discuss ways both entities could work together for future training and communication during the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, June 27.
Rodney Spires, a firefighter with the New London Fire Department, spoke with members of the Board of Directors for the Ralls County Public Water Supply District (PWSD) #1 to thank them for access to water and discuss ways both entities could work together for future training and communication during the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, June 27.
Boggiano reported that total assets were up for 2016 over 2015, and total liabilities included funds for the district’s forthcoming drinking water treatment plant.
He found no weaknesses for financial internal controls and commended work done by members of the management team, including District Clerk Ronda Caley Barton.
In other business: District officials sent out a letter to all customers regarding an above average level of Total Trihalomethanes (TTHMs), which are among the Disinfectant Byproducts (DBPs) resulting when chlorine used for treatment encounters organic material in the water.
The district was in compliance for the past two quarters, but the second quarter 2016 results were above approved levels.
So far, the drinking water treatment plant project is on schedule, and Bross planned to present an update to board members during the July meeting.
Board members reviewed a letter from Hannibal Board of Public Works (HBPW) General Manager Bob Stevenson providing a 90-day notice of a rate increase for meter and customer charges.
According to the letter, rate changes for all HBPW retail water customers will begin Saturday, July 1.

Thompson Pipe Group to acquire assets of U.S.
Pipe.
Thompson Pipe Group will provide the water and wastewater infrastructure, as well as, the power and industrial markets with various pressure and gravity pipe product solutions for open-cut and trenchless installations.
The acquisition positions Thompson Pipe Group to serve the growing needs of a vital industry at an important time in its history.
"We are excited about the opportunity to take one company’s non-core asset, especially the people, and provide the focus and discipline to turn this business around," says CEO, Ken D. Thompson.
As we grew into large public works projects, we gained experience installing the very products that we now produce.
"I’m very excited about our new lineup.
We’ll now be able to supply exactly the right product for the right application on a national scale," adds Executive Vice President Mike Leathers.
With a complete range of pipe products and the engineering support, we can serve our customers like never before.
Thompson Pipe Group is a privately held company headquartered in Rialto, California, with production plants situated throughout North America.

Trump Administration Moves Forward to Remove Protections on Drinking Water.
Former President Barack Obama enacted it to better define what bodies of water the Clean Water Act protects.
It created greater defenses for smaller streams and rivers that feed into larger ones, helping keep drinking water sources clean from pollution.
People of color, including tribal communities, border communities and many living in rural areas, already disproportionately lack access to clean drinking water, though more data is needed to know the extent.
An appellate court blocked it in October 2015 after 18 states challenged the federal government on the rule.
The court’s required stay allowed for further debate and discussion around the rule, according to Reuters.
The Supreme Court decided in April to continue with the case even though the Justice Department had asked it to halt the litigation while the Trump administration reviews it.
“This is the first step in the two-step process to redefine ‘waters of the U.S.,’ and we are committed to moving through this re-evaluation to quickly provide regulatory certainty, in a way that is thoughtful, transparent and collaborative with other agencies and the public,” said Pruitt in an online statement.
The proposed rule would be identical to what the text said previous to the 2015 change—and to what the industry currently follows.
The Guardian reports that the rule would have protected a third of U.S. residents’ water: That totals more than 100 million people.

EPA’s New Water Safety Official Is a Lobbyist With Deep Ties to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Dennis Lee Forsgren, a former lobbyist recently tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency office in charge of water safety, has deep ties to a fossil fuel advocacy group engaged in the promotion of the Dakota Access Pipeline as well as controversial offshore drilling efforts.
Before arriving at the EPA, Forsgren was an attorney for HBW Resources, a fossil fuel lobbying firm known for orchestrating campaigns on behalf of industry clients.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for building the Dakota Access pipeline, is listed as a corporate member of CEA.
Letters filed with regulators in support of Shell Oil during its bid to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic used language provided by CEA.
Over the last year, CEA and HBW have worked to build approval for the Dakota Access pipeline, which would bring fracked oil from North Dakota to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
In 2016, the group launched a campaign called “Pipelines for America,” which included grassroots events and advertisements designed to push back against growing opposition to the Dakota Access.
David Holt, the president of both HBW and CEA, was quoted last fall claiming that Standing Rock protesters have no interest in “protecting the environment” and are instead motivated by an interest in “shutting down the American economy.” In response to the decision by President Donald Trump to approve pipeline projects delayed by the previous administration, Holt issued a statement stating, “CEA has strongly supported both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines for many years and we enthusiastically applaud President Trump’s decision today to move ahead with these long-delayed projects.” The deputy assistant administrator of the Office of Water, the position awarded to Forsgren, does not require Senate confirmation, meaning that he can start his job right away.
The official tapped to lead the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Nancy Beck, is a former chemical industry lobbyist.
In recent months, the EPA’s Office of Water has been busy dealing with the lead-poisoning water scandal in Flint, Michigan, as well as complying with President Trump’s executive order to help find “existing regulations that could be repealed, replaced or modified to make them less burdensome.” Top photo: Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) confront bulldozers working on the new oil pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North Dakota on September 3, 2016.

Consumers Say Businesses Must Help Solve Water Crisis.
Businesses, government and environmental organizations must collaborate to solve the problem of clean drinking water, according to a new report about the major concerns of Americans from Nestle Waters North America (conducted by global research firm PSB).
Americans expected businesses to play a role in ensuring that people have access to clean drinking water (at 35%).
Nelson Switzer, chief sustainability officer of Nestle Waters NA, believes that companies would do well to engage with employees, suppliers, communities, non-profits, policy makers and other stakeholders to drive collaboration and innovation.
“We can accomplish far more together than we can alone,” Switzer says.
In a Q&A with Environmental Leader last month, Switzer pointed out that, though we cannot create water, we cannot destroy it, either.
“Can it be polluted?
In many cases.
Can it serve all the people, the industries, the environmental demands?
“If we manage the system appropriately, the answer is yes,” Switzer said.

EPA’s New Water Safety Official Is a Lobbyist With Deep Ties to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Dennis Lee Forsgren, a former lobbyist recently tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency office in charge of water safety, has deep ties to a fossil fuel advocacy group engaged in the promotion of the Dakota Access Pipeline as well as controversial offshore drilling efforts.
Before arriving at the EPA, Forsgren was an attorney for HBW Resources, a fossil fuel lobbying firm known for orchestrating campaigns on behalf of industry clients.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for building the Dakota Access pipeline, is listed as a corporate member of CEA.
Letters filed with regulators in support of Shell Oil during its bid to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic used language provided by CEA.
Over the last year, CEA and HBW have worked to build approval for the Dakota Access pipeline, which would bring fracked oil from North Dakota to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
In 2016, the group launched a campaign called “Pipelines for America,” which included grassroots events and advertisements designed to push back against growing opposition to the Dakota Access.
David Holt, the president of both HBW and CEA, was quoted last fall claiming that Standing Rock protesters have no interest in “protecting the environment” and are instead motivated by an interest in “shutting down the American economy.” In response to the decision by President Donald Trump to approve pipeline projects delayed by the previous administration, Holt issued a statement stating, “CEA has strongly supported both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines for many years and we enthusiastically applaud President Trump’s decision today to move ahead with these long-delayed projects.” The deputy assistant administrator of the Office of Water, the position awarded to Forsgren, does not require Senate confirmation, meaning that he can start his job right away.
The official tapped to lead the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Nancy Beck, is a former chemical industry lobbyist.
In recent months, the EPA’s Office of Water has been busy dealing with the lead-poisoning water scandal in Flint, Michigan, as well as complying with President Trump’s executive order to help find “existing regulations that could be repealed, replaced or modified to make them less burdensome.” Top photo: Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) confront bulldozers working on the new oil pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North Dakota on September 3, 2016.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn – Last Saturday the Global Water Dance was held in more than 90 locations around the world.
In Minneapolis, local Witch Rae Eden Frank joined other artists and environmentalists to raise awareness about global and local water issues.​ To draw attention to what the Global Water Dance says is a water crisis, performers come together every other year to perform a four part performance.
Ms. Frank, a Reclaiming Witch, says this event fits in closely with her religious ethics.
“My spiritual practices are tied into honoring the earth’s natural cycles and paying attention to the moments.
There is so much beauty in nature and so much beauty.” She says her advocation for environmental justice and equity have encouraged her participation in the Global Water Dance for the past five years, “I believe in access to clean drinking water as a fundamental unquestionable human right.” The Global Water Dance first launched in 2011 in response to UN Resolution 64/292, The Right to Water and Sanitation.
The Minneapolis group says 40% of the state’s 10,000 lakes and 90,000 miles of rivers are are unsafe to fish from or swim in.
They claim this leads to negative impacts on the quality of life Minnesotans enjoy.
They were also careful to note that the location where they performed is a sacred site, stolen from the native Dakota people.
Frank says she uses dance as a form of moving prayer, combined with intention, to shift the energy surrounding the waterways and our relationship to them.
“This is the power of the witch.

The state of Michigan sued Flint Wednesday, alleging that the city council’s refusal to approve a broadly backed deal to buy water long term from a Detroit-area system is endangering public health in the wake of a man-made crisis that left the supply contaminated with lead.
The council instead OK’d a short-term extension of its contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority.
State and federal officials do not want Flint to change water sources a third time after a fateful 2014 switch resulted in lead contamination and other issues while the city was under state management.
In April, Weaver recommended that the city continue getting its water from the Detroit system long term, saying another switch would be too risky and expensive.
The agreement negotiated by Weaver "is the only option that will be protective of public health in Flint, ensure the future financial violability of Flint’s water fund, and promote investment in Flint’s water distribution system," the suit says.
During the public health emergency, E. coli was detected along with high levels of a carcinogenic disinfectant byproduct.
Experts suspect a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak was tied to the water.
Numerous residents have sued seeking damages, and a federal judge has separately approved a landmark deal to replace water lines at 18,000 homes.
Flint has estimated it would save $58 million by not having to upgrade its own troubled water plant to treat water coming from the new pipeline — more if the facility is closed.
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