Activists bristle over small venue for water contract talks, rally outside

A group of activists in Southern Maine is threatening legal action after they say they were kept out of a district water trustee’s board meeting Wednesday.

About 100 people gathered in Kennebunk to protest a contract that would allow Nestle Waters to purchase 432,000 gallons of water in a number of Southern Maine communities. The contract would last 30 years with an option to renew for 25 years.

The trustees were supposed to discuss a contract Wednesday afternoon that would have allowed Nestle access to resources in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit and Wells. Kennebunk town officials suggested they hold the meeting at town hall – a larger facility – but instead the trustees remained in their usual meeting place down the street with seating for about 20.

With activists banging on the windows shouting “let us in” and “this is not what democracy looks like,” the trustees voted to table the issue for a month.

The activists worry about the state giving away its natural resources to big corporations for profit – and fear the impact on the small communities.

“Our water should be safe, clean and affordable,” said Annie Weinberg of Food and Water Watch, an organization out of Washington, D.C. “Not a luxury to be sold to the highest bidder.”

Mary Taylor of Shapleigh said current water-bottling efforts already take a toll on her small community of 2,300. She said 31 tank trucks roll through the town’s center each day – beating up the roads – and also the extraction hurts the town’s aquifers.

Among the crowd was Herbert Hoffman of Ogunquit, who is running as an independent for U.S. Senate.

“I’m concerned about the issues of accountability to voters…” he said. “Water is not a commodity to enhance individual business. Water is the property of the people.”

Wednesday’s rally was last-minute. Southern Maine resident Jamilla El-Shafei had only heard that the issue was coming forth two weeks ago. In the next month, the group will organize further.

Emily Posner, an activist from Montville, has worked on water issues in Maine for seven years. She made the trip to Kennebunk to help organize the group.

After the contract discussions were tabled, Posner read off the names and phone numbers of the water trustee heads, and urged the group to flood them with phone calls.

“Let’s make their life miserable,” Posner said.

PolitickerME.com is attempting to contact the trustees, and will update the story later.

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