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Coalition Calls For Nestlé's Sacramento Water-Bottling Plant To Close

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Environmentalists are taking a stand against Nestle's Sacramento water-bottling plant, saying it's time for the plant to close to protect the local groundwater supply.

A coalition of environmentalists are protesting at Nestle's Sacramento water-bottling plant, claiming the company is stealing water and contributing to the state's drought.

The Swiss-based company bottles water in Sacramento under the names Pure and Arrowhead, and sells several other brands across North America.

Demonstrators say Nestlé pays less than two-tenths of a cent for each gallon of water it pumps from the ground, then turns around and sells the bottled water at "an obscene profit".

Nestlé website shows the firm earned $4 billion from its North American bottle water sales in 2012.

The company is allowed to bottle and sell 80 million gallons of groundwater from local aquifers per year, according to a statement from the coalition that's calling for the plant to close.

"In Sacramento our mayor has given Nestlé the right for pennies on the dollar to drain our aquifers, bottle the water and sell it back to the people at exorbitant profits while we are in a severe drought. We say Nestlé, it's crunch time and we are coming to shut you down," according to coalition spokesperson Andy Conn.

The facility is located at 8670 Younger Creek Drive.

Nestle released the following statement on Thursday evening:

Today members of Occupy Sacramento gathered outside our bottling facility. We respect everyone's right to free speech. Out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of our employees, the surrounding businesses and the nearly 30 protesters, we modified our delivery schedules and continued to operate at full capacity. All employees reported for work as usual.

In Sacramento, Nestlé Waters North America purchases and pays the standard metered rate for municipal water, which is delivered through the municipal pipe system. We are not ranked among the top 10 water users in Sacramento as we use about two thousandths of one percent (0.0016%) of Sacramento's total water demand. Our company is subject to any restrictions, drought or otherwise, imposed on all light industrial or business customers by the city of Sacramento and we comply with those restrictions. We also comply with reporting requirements for the water we use in the city of Sacramento. If Nestlé Waters stopped operating in Sacramento tomorrow, there would be no appreciable difference in the amount of water available to other customers.

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