The Ogunquit Select Board is reaching out to Wells, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport in an effort to better understand the local battle of water rights.
The board, during a Sept. 15 meeting, approved sending three letters asking officials in each town to enter into a joint-showing of the documentary “Tapped,” a film featuring local water activists and the debate over bottled water and large-scale water extraction in southern Maine.
By Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman
In the last few years, the world’s largest financial institutions and pension funds, from Goldman Sachs to Australia’s Macquarie Bank, have figured out that old, trustworthy utilities and infrastructure could become reliable cash cows — supporting the financial system’s speculative junk derivatives with the real concrete of highways, water utilities, airports, harbors, and transit systems. Continue reading
By Daniel Palmer, Australian Food News
Global bottled water consumption advanced 4.5 per cent to 218 billion litres in 2008, according to a new report from drinks consultancy Zenith International. Growth of relatively low per person consumption in less developed bottled water markets helped to counteract the combined pressures of the economic downturn alongside public concerns over the environment, the 2009 Global Bottled Water report highlighted.
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By Steve Bodnar, Seacoast Online
The Board of Selectmen on Sept. 1 voted 4-1 to put before voters an ordinance that would regulate how much water a company like Poland Spring is allowed to withdraw. The Tuesday night vote put the so-called regulatory large-scale water extraction ordinance, which was developed to protect water resources in town, on the Nov. 3 ballot.
By Emily Jed, Vending Times
NEW YORK CITY — A recent court decision has lifted an injunction that had blocked implementation of New York’s expanded bottle bill, making key provisions of the law effective immediately. But the bottled water industry is awaiting a hearing on Oct. 22, when it hopes to convince the judge to extend further the date by which it must comply.