Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle water brands account for half
of the $55 billion bottled water market, and Coke and Pepsi both use tap water
as their source."
In 2004, half a million bottles of Coke's Dasani were recalled in the
United Kingdom after they were found to contain bromate, a carcinogen."
For example, Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) in Big
Rapids, Michigan, has battled and won a major court victory in 2003 shutting
down a Nestle well field that supplies water for its bottled water operation.
As consumers across the US take the Tap Water Challenge this week, giant
corporations like Coke and Suez are participating in the Fourth World Water
Forum, a major international gathering that promotes the interests of the
private water industry, in Mexico City. Corporate Accountability International
is joining with people's movements and NGOs from every region of the world in
challenging the pro-privatization agenda of the Fourth World Water Forum.S. House of
Representatives passed April 21.S.S.

workforces biopiracy

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S. State and federal funding for such cleanups is
already limited at best; statutory remedies against the manufacturers are also
limited.

moris nestl

Tap Water Challenges will be conducted in Austin , Baltimore, Boston,
Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco and Seattle.stopcorporateabuse .

mattel boycott

By encouraging consumers to "think outside the bottle," the
campaign is a direct challenge to the marketing muscle and myths of the
bottled water industry. After lobbying the governor and
state chamber of commerce to their side, Nestle was able to appeal the ruling,
and won temporary permission to pump out and bottle 218 gallons of water each
minute. MTBE has caused
extensive contamination of both groundwater and surface water across the
country, including Pennsylvania, where the southeastern portion of the state
has been particularly affected.

monsanto monoculture

Latest Version of Federal Energy Bill Includes Language That Could Shield MTBE
Manufacturers From Legal Claims

HARRISBURG, Pa.

Protests, boycotts, strikes, class action suits, and other organized actions against corporations.

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"Supporting this kind of deal for responsible
parties amounts to imposing tens of millions of dollars in new taxes that
Pennsylvanians will have to pay for cleanup.

nestle biopiracy

"Problems of water scarcity and access loom larger as a
profit-driven industry increasingly controls our water supply . Supplying water is already a $400 billion annual business-30
percent larger than the pharmaceutical industry.
Granting such immunity from liability could impede efforts to secure the
cleanup of MTBE contamination.pa.

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"Spring water mining and pumping operations are hugely profitable in a
very thirsty world. In the face of limited water supply,
corporations are increasingly seeking to turn water into a profit-driven
commodity.
Coke, which is facing growing international pressure for draining massive
amounts of water from a number of Indian communities, is a sponsor of the
Fourth World Water Forum. senators to oppose the inclusion of a "safe harbor"
provision in federal energy legislation that would essentially grant
manufacturers of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) immunity from claims that
the fuel additive is "defective in design or manufacture" and seriously
undermine efforts to clean up groundwater and surface water contaminated by
MTBE."
The Secretary's letter urges U. Senate for
consideration. Environmental Protection Agency
has classified MTBE as a possible human carcinogen on the basis of studies
that show MTBE to be a carcinogen in animals.state.

militarism cbg

'Think Outside the Bottle' Campaign to Reveal How Corporations Mislead
Consumers About Bottled Water

BOSTON, People across the US are participating
today in Tap Water Challenges in cities to test Coke, Nestle and Pepsi's
bottled water advertising.

Pennsylvania DEP Urges U.S. Senators to Fight MTBE Measure That Would Undermine Cleanup Efforts

McGinty today again
urged Pennsylvania's U.

boycotts swatch

org. The measure now is with the U.

rtmark militarism

"Corporations like Coke, Pepsi and Nestle promote bottled water as pure,
safe, healthy and superior to tap water, but bottled water is actually less
regulated than tap water.

monoculture militarism

"Many people do not realize that the most popular bottled waters come from
the tap and are resold to the public at hundreds or thousands of times the
cost," said Corporate Accountability International Campaigns Director Patti
Lynn. Two cups will
contain Dasani, Aquafina, or Poland Springs, and the other two contain water
drawn from different public taps. The World Water Forum is organized by
the World Water Council, a think tank dominated by private water corporations.
Activists from around the world are coming together to challenge
increasing corporate control of water. For more information visit
http://www.org

, On behalf of Governor Edward G.
MTBE is also readily soluble in water and migrates quickly through
groundwater.dep.

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Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership
organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging
irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. Common law claims against manufacturers, seeking either injunctive
or monetary remedies, provide important tools to clean up MTBE contamination.
MTBE is absorbed rapidly and extensively from the respiratory and
gastrointestinal tracts of humans. Health complaints related to
MTBE have included headaches, dizziness, irritated eyes, burning of the nose
and throat, coughing, disorientation, and nausea.

nestle unilever

Rendell, Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A.

rtmark protestors

The trial court found Nestle's well field operation substantially harmed a
stream , two lakes, and rich diverse wetlands.
According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world 's people won't
have access to enough water by 2025. That provision was included in a
version of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that the U.
The Rendell administration previously sent letters to the senators in
September 2003 and November 2003 urging their opposition to the liability
shield when Congress was debating an earlier version of the federal energy
bill.
A nationwide study by the U.

fedex disorganized

Our
human right to water is at stake," said Tony Clarke, Director of the Polaris
Institute .
"Creating a liability shield to protect the MTBE manufacturing industry
undermines state and private efforts to remove widespread soil and water
contamination," McGinty said. Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum
to oppose a provision that blocks product liability and other lawsuits against
MTBE manufacturers and oil companies. The U.us,
Keyword: "MTBE.

tmark boycotts

National tap water challenges are scheduled to take place
throughout this week, leading up to the United Nations' World Water Day on
March 22."

CONTACT: Kurt M. Knaus of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, +1-717-787-1323.

fedex endangers

It is all part of Corporate Accountability
International's national "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, which cites
bottled water as the most visible example of increasing corporate control of
our water.
Half of all Americans drink bottled water, and one in six Americans drink
only bottled water.
Passersby are asked to sample four cups of water blindfolded .
"This is about much more than price gouging or duping the public. The privatization of water for profit and the diversion
of water are no meaningful remedies for the world's serious problems of water
pollution and water misusage grievously afflicting the poor," said Don Roy,
political science professor and board member of MCWC.
Scientific evidence has established that MTBE poses risks to human health.
For more information, visit DEP's Web site at http://www.

iams fedex

And a
Natural Resources Defense Council study found that bottled water was no
safer -- and sometimes less safe -- than tap water, with harmful contaminants
like arsenic detected in some brands. The citizens group is appealing the case to the Michigan Supreme Court
to prevent a shift in water law that would favor privatization of a public
resource.

rtmark disorganized

Activists across the country are organizing Tap Water Challenges, daring
city residents to put on blindfolds and try to tell the difference between
Coke 's Dasani, Pepsi's Aquafina, Nestle's Poland Spring, and their own public
tap water.S.

rtmark mattel

Bottled Water Claims By Coke Pepsi Nestle Put to Test in Nationwide Tap Water Challenge Conducted by Corporate Accountability International

For over 25
years, we've forced corporations -- like Nestli, General Electric and Philip
Morris/Altria -- to stop abusive actions.

Contact: Patti Lynn, (617) 695-2525 , plynn@stopcorporateabuse.

militarism protested

Postcards with mock labels (Daphoni, Aquafib
and Nasty) will be on hand for consumers for fill out and send to the three
corporations.S. Geological Survey found MTBE in 86 percent
of wells sampled in industrial areas, 31 percent sampled in commercial areas,

23 percent in residential areas and 23 percent in areas of mixed urban land
use, parks, and recreational areas.

boycott boycotts

This renders the cleanup of contamination from leaking
underground storage tanks much more difficult and expensive.