CRIMINOSA NESTL

EXPLORAO DAS GUAS MINERAIS EM SO LOURENO

fontes de pesquisa na ltima pgina

H uma fonte de gua rarssima, localizada no interior do Bosque Municipal em So Loureno que nica no mundo. Dessa fonte deveria jorrar uma gua com todos os minerais contidos em 7 guas diferentes que tambm existem no bosque. As guas minerais, de propriedades medicinais e baixo custo, eram um eficiente e barato tratamento mdico para diversas doenas, que entrou em desuso, a partir dos anos 50, pela macia campanha dos laboratrios farmacuticos para vender suas frmulas qumicas atravs dos mdicos. Mas o poder dessas guas permanece. Mdicos da regio, por exemplo, curam a anemia das crianas de baixa renda apenas com gua ferruginosa. A Nestl vinha explorando, sem licena estadual, essas fontes de gua e por volta de 2000/2005 construiu" um fontanrio (Parque das Fontes) no interior do bosque, quando atravs de um contrato entregou a propriedade para explorao do Poder Executivo que ficaria a cargo da manuteno, fechamento, limpeza e segurana de toda rea, o que nunca foi cumprido. O Contrato entre Nestl e Prefeitura tem durao de 25 anos, renovveis por mais 25, podendo ser quebrado a qualquer momento devido ao no cumprimento das obrigaes celebradas por ambas as partes. Criaram um fontanrio com a desculpa mentirosa de preservao ambiental, impediram o acesso da populao e extraem gua em ritmo acelerado ignorando o lento processo de mineralizao natural das guas. Dois poos j secaram, toda a regio do sul de Minas est sendo afetada, inclusive estncias minerais de outras localidades. A Nestl est faturando em cima do bem comum, desobedecendo s normas de restrio de impacto ambiental e expondo a sade da populao. Troca de gigantescos dutos de suco de extrao de gua, na presena de fiscais, rotina. O terreno do Parque das guas de So Loureno est afundando devido ao comprometimento dos lenis subterrneos. Extraem gua em ritmo acelerado desrespeitando o lento processo de formao dessas guas, dois poos j secaram. Moradores da regio Sul de Minas reclamam a seca de suas fontes que no passado jorravam em suas propriedades e que tinham origem no bosque de So Loureno. Durante anos a Nestl vinha operando sem licena estadual, porm, obtiveram essa licena no incio de 2004. Um dos brasileiros atuantes no movimento de defesa das guas de So Loureno, Franklin Frederick, aps anos de tentativas frustradas junto ao governo e imprensa para combater o problema, conseguiu apoio, na Sua, para interpelar a empresa criminosa. A Igreja Reformista, a Igreja Catlica, Grupos Socialistas e a ong verde ATTAC uniram esforos contra a Nestl, que j havia tentado a mesma prtica na Sua. Em janeiro deste ano, graas ao apoio desses grupos, Franklin conseguiu interpelar pessoalmente, e em pblico, o presidente mundial do Grupo Nestl. Este, irritado, respondeu que mandaria fechar imediatamente a fbrica da Nestl em So Loureno. No dia seguinte, o governo de Minas (PSDB), baixou portaria que regulamentava a atividade da Nestl. Ao invs de multas, uma autorizao, mesmo ferindo a legislao federal. Sem aproveitar o apoio internacional para o caso, apoiou uma corporao privada de histrico duvidoso. Se a grande imprensa brasileira, misteriosa e sistematicamente vem ignorando o caso, o mesmo no ocorre na Europa, onde o assunto foi publicado em jornais de vrios pases, alm de duas matrias de meia hora na televiso. No final desse documento esto os links internacionais de ONGs e jornais que relatam o problema. Em uma dessas matrias, o vereador Cssio Mendes, do PT de So Loureno, envolvido na batalha contra a criminosa Nestl, reclama que sofreu presses do Governo Federal (PT), para calar a boca.

Teria sido avisado de que o pessoal da Nestl apoia o Programa Fome Zero e no est gostando do barulho em So Loureno. Diga-se tambm que a relao espria da Nestl com o Fome Zero outro caso sinistro. A empresa, como estratgia de marketing, incentiva os consumidores a comprar seus produtos, alegando que revertem lucros para o Fome Zero. E qual a real participao da Nestl no programa? A contratao de agentes e, parece, tambm fornecendo o treinamento. Sim, a famosa Nestl, que tem sido h dcadas alvo internacional de denncias de propaganda mentirosa, enganando mes pobres e educadores para a substituio de leite materno por produtos Nestl, em um dos maiores crimes contra a humanidade. A vendedora de leites e papinhas "substitutos" estaria envolvida com o treinamento dos agentes brasileiros do Fome Zero, recolhendo informaes e gerando lucros e publicidade nas duas pontas do programa: compradores desejosos de colaborar e famintos carentes de comida e informao.Mais preocupante: o Governo Federal anuncia que ir alterar a legislao, permitindo a desmineralizao "parcial" das guas. O que isso? Como ser regulamentado? Se a Nestl vinha bombeando gua alm do permitido e a fiscalizao nada fez, como iro fiscalizar a tal desmineralizao "parcial"? Alm do que, "parcial" ou "integral", a desmineralizao combatida por cientistas e pesquisadores de todo o mundo. E por que alterar a legislao em um item que apenas interessa Nestl? O que ns cidados ganhamos com isso? Sabemos que outras empresas, como a Coca-Cola (marca Crystal), esto no mesmo caminho da Nestl, adquirindo terrenos em importantes reas de fontes de gua.

NESTL internacional luta pela PRIVATIZAO da GUA em todo o mundo

CEO da Nestl, Peter Brabeck: "O acesso gua no deve ser um direito pblico". O atual presidente, austraco, ex-CEO da Nestl, o maior produtor de alimentos do mundo, acredita que a resposta para as questes globais da gua a privatizao.

Peter Brabeck sustenta a ideia de que os governos devem garantir que cada pessoa disponha de 5 litros de gua diria para beber e outros 25 litros para sua higiene pessoal, mas que o resto do consumo teria que ser gerido segundo critrios empresariais. Procure no youtube por

Nestl-Konzernchef Peter Brabeck: "Zugang zu Wasser sollte kein ffentliches Recht sein." (traduza do alemo para portugus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTqvBhFVdvE&feature=player_detailpage

Nestl X So Loureno e casos de Caxambu, Cambuquira e Lambari

As fontes de guas mineral de So Loureno, no Sul de Minas, conhecidas mundialmente pelo seu poder curativo e riqueza nica em todo o planeta, esto seriamente ameaadas. A empresa sua Nestl assumiu, em 1994, o controle da Perrier-Vitel francesa, que comprou o direito de explorar as fonte de So Loureno. Desde ento a multinacional continua explorando os seus mananciais e maneira ilegal e irresponsvel. A situao dramtica e j extrapolou as fronteiras do Brasil. Franklin Frederick, ambientalista do Movimento de Cidadania pelas guas, esteve na Europa onde, alm de se reunir com cientistas, foi convidado por vriasONG's, universidades e emissoras de TV para relatar a situao que vive hoje a turstica estncia hidromineral, ameaada pela superexplorao de suas fontes de gua mineral medicinais. "O europeu est solidrio com a luta dos cidados de So Loureno, em defesa do seu maior patrimnio", testemunhou Franklin. A briga So Loureno X Nestl j ganha contornos judiciais. Recursos e liminares tramitam morosamente. "Enquanto isso, a empresa prossegue silenciosamente com a destruio das fontes que atraem turistas do mundo inteiro, geram empregos e receita para o municpio e, acima de tudo, curam naturalmente pessoas de todas as idades", desabafa Luciana Lee, do Movimento de Cidadania pelas guas. Nosso ouro- A ambientalista sustenta que a empresa no tem licena do Departamento Nacional de Produo Mineral (DNPM) para explorao das guas". Bombas de suco de grande potncia e injeo artificial de gs retiram fora, do subsolo, um milho de litros de gua por dia, do Poo Primavera, de onde extrada a Pure Life, uma gua cujas propriedades qumicas foram adulteradas. O ferro, abundante nessa gua e recomendado pelos mdicos para combater a anemia, foi retirado pela Nestl porque impregnava a gua de uma colorao amarelada. A outra adulterao a adio de sais minerais. Para legalizar essa adulterao, a empresa conseguiu autorizao do Ministrio da Sade (Anvisa). Isso crime". Irresponsabilidade social A empresa, ela alega, est desrespeitando o Cdigo de guas Minerais, Decreto-Lei n 7.841, de 8de agosto de 1945. A lei exige um tratamento diferenciado para as guas minerais que devem ser tratadas como produtos medicinais, diferentemente de guas subterrneas comuns, para que se preservem as suas propriedades qumicas curativas. "A Nestl no tem interesse no mercado de guas minerais, mas no de gua potvel de mesa, que ela considera o investimento mais lucrativo. Estima-se que cerca de 2/3 das guas potveis do planeta j estejam sob o controle da Nestl, ainda que sob diversos nomes fantasia". Recurso hdrico ou mineral? O gelogo Gabriel Tadeu Junqueira, que assessorou a comisso criada na Cmara Municipal para investigar a atuao da multinacional em So Loureno, salienta que essa "purificao" retira da gua suas qualidades especiais e a transforma em uma gua qualquer, como a que sai das torneiras das casas. "O mineral que eles retiram da gua e que chamam de impureza o nosso ouro. No temos nada contra o produto Pure Life, e no teria problema algum se ele no fosse feito com uma gua extremamente rara", desabafa. A gua mineral no Brasil tratada igual a minrio de ferro. O decreto de lavra para os poos, em So Loureno, de1935. Para mudar essa conceituao, que abre brechas para muitas irregularidades, os ambientalistas perseguem a alterao da classificao legal da gua de "bem mineral" para "recurso hdrico". Se permanecer como est hoje, classificada como bem mineral, a gua poder ser explorada at a exausto de suas fontes. Caso contrrio, haver limitaes exploratrias, justamente pelo entendimento de que a gua um bem social necessrio sobrevivncia do homem - um patrimnio da humanidade.

Ilegalidade Das sete fontes de gua mineral de So Loureno, a Magnesiana (*) j entrou em exausto e est desativada h trs anos. A fonte Vichy (*) est dando os ltimos suspiros", relembra o vereador petista de So Loureno, Cssio Mendes. "A prpria Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais (CPRM) tambm admitiu a possibilidade de estar ocorrendo uma superexplorao das nossas guas minerais. A Nestl no tem autorizao para funcionar pelo simples fato de no possuir estudos de impacto ambiental". A informao confirmada por Ren Vilela, membro do Conselho Estadual de Poltica Ambiental (Copam): " As empresas que exploram industrialmente fontes de gua mineral no Sul de Minas no possuem estudos de impacto ambiental e, portanto, no dispem de autorizao legal para funcionar. Elas esto na ilegalidade". Briga Judicial O promotor Pedro Paulo Aina, do Ministrio Pblico Estadual, relembra que as apuraes em torno do caso comearam em Abril do ano passado, quando as guas da Fonte Magnesia pararam de sais e as da Fonte Vichy, com caractersticas alcalinas, sofreram uma alterao de sabor. A comunidade se mobilizou e cobrou da Nestl uma explicao. A suspeita era de que esses problemas estivessem relacionados com as obras de ampliao da fbrica em meados da dcada de 90 que incluram a construo de uma muralha em torno do complexo. Quando o Ministrio Pblico solicitou documentos empresa e aos rgos dos governos Federal e Estadual responsveis pela fiscalizao desse tipo de atividade, se deparou com vrias irregularidades. "Existem uma srie de denncias diferentes". afiram o promotor. "O licenciamento para as obras veio depois da execuo, falta autorizao para extrao de gua e desmineralizao da gua do Poo Primavera", exemplifica, mostrando o inqurito de quase 400 pginas aberto para apurar o caso. Alm do inqurito, que j se encontra em fase final de apurao, uma pilha com um metro de altura de documentos arrolados pelo MP tambm compe o texto final da Comisso Especial para Estudo e Defesa da guas Minerais da Cmara Municipal de So Loureno, elaborado pelo relator da comisso, vereador Cssio Mendes (PT). Ele afirma que, pelas explicaes fornecidas pela empresa no incio das apuraes, no imaginou que o problema fosse to extenso. "A Nestl inventou um monte de mentira eenrolao. Utilizaram a burocracia e a omisso do Poder Pblico para disfarar as irregularidades", acusa. Primavera rachada Respaldado pelos fatos dramticos da explorao abusiva, o promotor Aina instaurou inqurito para apurar as denncias contra a Nestl e ingressou com ao civil pblica na 2 Vara Cvel da Comarca de So Loureno. O Juiz Wilson dos Santos concedeu liminar suspendendo a explorao do Poo Primavera pela Nestl. No entanto, a multinacional entrou com agravo no Tribunal de Justia do Estado, conseguindo a suspenso da liminar. Foi impetrado recurso contra a liminar da Nestl, at hoje sem julgamento definitivo. O processo de inqurito contra a Nestl continua tramitando normalmente na comarca de So Loureno, tal como o secamento das fontes que beneficiaram milhes de brasileiros, incluindo Dom Pedro II e a Princesa Isabel. Rachaduras - O gelogo Gabriel Tadeu Junqueira afirmou que a superexplorao em So Loureno pode estar causando rachaduras nas fontes em razo do rebaixamento do nvel das guas no subsolo. "Esto ocorrendo fraturas no interior do parque e inclusive em prdios do fontanrio. Isso pode ser comprovao

que o rebaixamento do lenol fretico est causando o abatimento na rea, atravs do espao vazio que foi criado. Os prdios que esto no interior do parque j apresentam trincas na estrutura". A indignao geral A situao das demais cidades que integram o Circuito das guas (Caxambu, Cambuquira e Lambari) no muito diferente de So Loureno. A presidente da Sociedade Amigos do Parque das guas de Caxambu (Ampara) Maria Antnia Muniz Barreto, afirma que a empresa Supergua, do grupo Supergasbrs, tambm vem explorando durante os ltimos 20 anos, sem licena ambiental, as guas minerais dessa estncia. A concesso terminou em novembro do ano passado e um processo licitatrio est sendo realizado pela CompanhiaMineradora de Minas Gerais (Comig), com previso de publicao ainda este ms. Segundo Muniz, a Supergua declara verbalmente que explora o limite possvel da vazo espontnea, ou seja, no feito bombeamento profundo, mas sim, ao nvel da surgncia natural. Ao longo dos 20 anos, o volume de produo teve como teto a quantidade de quatro milhes de litros/ms para todo o engarrafamento no Circuito das guas, incluindo a cidade de Arax. O volume ideal, garante a ambientalista, seria razo espontnea das fontes, subtraindo a quantidade reservada populao e balnerios (mais ou menos 20%), a quantidade utilizada para lavagem de vasilhame, declarada pela empresa como 30% do volume engarrafado e um quantidade ( a ser devidamente pesquisada e considerada) que garanta o uso mltiplo da gua, visando ao equilbrio do ecossistema. "Da forma como a empresa declara ter atuado todos esses anos, parece a princpio, no haver risco de exausto, porm, as diversas medies realizadas historicamente pela CPRM, pelo DNPM e a Fundao Gorceix apresentam dados divergentes", alerta Maria Antnia. Por que a comunidade est preocupada? O circuito das guas tem como principal caracterstica o aspecto turstico de suas guas reconhecidamente medicinais. No existe no planeta outro lugar que concentre tamanha variedade de fontes de guas minerais, fato que j determina a relevncia e a peculiaridade da regio. A ambientalista observa que a super e antiecolgica explorao queest acontecendo na cidade-irm de So Loureno tem conseqncia irreversveis para o meio ambiente, "Tudo isso gera descrena quanto seriedade e a nossa capacidade de tratar os recursos naturais. A guas fundamental para a sobrevivncia econmica e financeira da populao dessas estncias. O temor do mundo Na Sua em janeiro deste ano, uma manifestao organizada pelo grupo ATTAC do canto de Neuchtel reuniu mais de 120 cidados em ato de protesto contra a Nestl. A multinacional pleiteava a privatizao de uma fonte de gua na cidade de Bevaix. As leis daquele pas, ao contrrio das brasileiras, so claras: esse tipo de explorao impossvel porque a gua considerada um bem comum, inalienvel e no comercializvel. A gua, assim como a terra e o ar, ainda so patrimnio da humanidade nos alpes suos. O texto do manifesto do Grupo ATTAC enftico. "Um outro mundo possvel. No o da ganncia financeira em detrimento do cidado. No aquele do sobe e desce das bolsas em detrimento ao respeito vida e aos povos, sobretudo os mais pobres. Queremos um mundo de justia, baseado no respeito e na distribuio das riquezas. Ganhando contra a Nestl, os cidados do nosso pas e do mundo inteiro compreendero que possvel fazer recuar os gananciosos de qualquer espcies. Dessa forma, protegeremos o nosso futuro e o de cada ser humano vivo. A gua um bem insubstituvel e, por isso, no deve ser considerada como produto e objeto de explorao econmica e apropriao privada. A gua est se tornando um produto caro e corre o risco de desaparecer daqui a alguns anos. Tememos que a Nestl,

dentro de 30 a 50 anos, se aproprie progressivamente da maioria das reservas de gua existentes no mundo. Tem-se que evitar, a qualquer custo, o monoplio da gua potvel. Tal situao seria uma fonte de desigualdade entre os indivduos. A gua deve ser gerenciada por servios coletivos e pblicos. S assim poderemos assegurar uma gesto imparcial e durvel dos recursos naturais. HISTRIA NO CRISTALINA Em setembro de 1996, a Nestl fez uma perfurao no Parque das guas de So Loureno, com uma profundidade de 158 metros, ao lado da usina de engarrafamento. Ali, ela encontrou uma gua carbogasosa com uma vazo espontnea de 30 mil litros/hora, cuja fonte ganhou o nome ecolgico de Fonte Primavera. No entanto, somente em 15 de junho de 1998, o gelogo da multinacional, Idmilson R. Mesquita, encaminhou ao DNPM o relatrio tcnico sobre a perfurao. No relatrio de visita realizada em novembro de 97 pelo DNPM, o gelogo Jos Antnio Menezes de Paiva descreveu detalhadamente uma srie de problemas a serem regularizados, como a substituio de porta, troca de piso e pintura no teto da fonte, mas, no fez qualquer referncia sobre o poo perfurando sem autorizao do prprio rgo. Em 25 de julho de 98, a Nestl solicitou, ao CPRM, a anlise da gua do Poo Primavera que, segundo o Cdigo de guas Minerais, foi classificada como "gua mineral alcalino-bicabonatada, alcalino-terrosa, clcica, magnesiana, fluoretada, litinada, carnogasosa e hipotermal na fonte." O alto teor de ferro encontrado na gua impedia o seu engarrafamento, pois precipitaria e mancharia a embalagem. A Nestl solicitou, ento, ao DNPM, autorizao para retirar o ferro natural da gua, para o seu aproveitamento comercial. O relatrio do gelogo Jos Antnio, do DNPM, em julho de 98, afirmou que a "Legislao brasileira (Cdigo de guas Minerais) no contempla o processo de deferrinizao". Antes disso, 25 de junho de 1997, o diretor geral da Nestl assinou um termo de compromisso em que, caso no seja confirmado o aproveitamento industrial da gua, o DNPM "poder adotar medidas para a suspenso definitiva do processo de tratamento". Interessante notar que esse termo de compromisso de junho de 1997, quando o poo seria perfurado em novembro do mesmo ano. Em agosto de 1997, a engenheira qumica do DNPM, Sonja Dumas Rauen, no autorizou o processo por no encontrar amparo legal. Nesse mesmo ms, o gelogo da Nestl, Idimilson Mesquita, no satisfeito como o parecer do DNPM em consonncia com o Cdigo das guas Minerais, afirmou que "um capricho da legislao brasileira" impedia o aproveitamento daquela gua e solicitou que o parecer da Comisso de Crenologia do DNPM fosse "desconsiderado". A Nestl insiste na aprovao do pedido, desta vez, ao presidente da Comisso de Crenologia, j que a empresa teria investido mais de quatro milhes de reais na expanso. Em 13 de novembro de 1998, a Comisso de Crenologia vetou o pedido de deferrinizao da gua do Poo Primavera por ser uma gua mineral e, portanto, no encontrar amparo legal para ser alterada. Em 10 de junho de 1999, Adelino Gregrio, chefe do servio de guas subterrneas do DNPM, em vista empresa, constatou que a gua estava sendo comercializada com o rtulo de "gua comum adicionada de

sais", infringindo o art. 31 do Cdigo Nacional de guas Minerais. Diante do fato, ele notificou a empresa a participar de reunio em Braslia para tratar do assunto. A empresa alegou ser de competncia do Ministrio da Sade autorizar o aproveitamento de guas adicionadas de sais. Curiosamente, Adelino foi imediatamente demitido do DNPM, rgo a que serviu por quase 30 anos. Consultado pelo Ministrio Pblico, em 25 de maio de 2001, o DNPM afirmou que no autorizou o aproveitamento da gua para engarrafamento. "A autorizao de explorao da gua foi concedida pelo Ministrio da Sade", explicou o rgo, apoiado pela Nestl. Consultado pelo Ministrio Pblico, em 11 de junho de 2001, o Ministrio da Sade negou literalmente o que foi dito pela empresa e pelo DNPM: "Informo que no houve autorizao de explorao do Poo Primavera, visto que no competncia deste rgo tal autorizao". Onde est a verdade cristalina dos fatos? a pergunta que a populao de So Loureno faz at hoje. Resumo do relatrio final da Comisso Especial para Estudos e Defesa da Cmara Municipal de So Loureno, com 130 pginas. Fonte: http://www.acquasul.com/jornal.htm

PROPRIEDADES MEDICINAIS DAS GUAS MINERAIS

O principal atrativo so as oito fontes de gua mineral com propriedades teraputicas diferentes. Essas guas j saem com gs diretamente da fonte, por causa da mistura de sais e minerais das rochas que ficam no subsolo da cidade. Por conterem muita quantidade de substncias, no recomendvel tomar grandes quantidades de todas elas no mesmo dia, sob o risco de clicas e dores abdominais. O tratamento com essas guas geralmente leva mais de duas semanas, e antigamente os mdicos recomendavam cada uma delas para tratar de algumas enfermidades. A gua de Vichy, por exemplo, que alcalina, bastante indicada para problemas gstricos, renais e de vescula biliar. O sabor amargo caracterstico s encontrado no mundo na cidade mineira e na Frana, na cidade de Vichy, na regio de Auvergne. Outra fonte de gua alcalina, com outras propriedades, boa para lceras, hipercloridria, uricenia e eliminao de clculos renais. O Parque tambm possui duas fontes de gua sulfurosa, cuja ingesto ideal para ajudar no tratamento de diabetes, colites, alergia de pele, sinusite e problemas respiratrios. De uma delas, possvel inalar somente o gs atravs de um tubo, garantindo alvio para problemas respiratrios. Outra peculiaridade a gua carbogasosa, que contm ltio, substncia muito utilizada na medicina para o tratamento de depresso e estresse. As outras fontes so as duas ferruginosas (para anorexia e anemia) e a magnesiana (para distrbios hepticos). Essa ltima s no indicada para aqueles que sofrem de lcera pptica.

BBC entrevista o advogado da Academia Internacional da gua Livre, Brasil, Franklin Frederick sobre explorao das guas de So Loureno
Leia: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/facethefacts/transcript_20050722.shtml Oua: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/facethefacts/ram/facethefacts_20050722.ram FACE THE FACTS Programme 1. - Nestle and Brazilian Spa Resort TX: 22.07.05 1230-1300 Presented by John Waite WAITE I'm travelling in a charrette - a horse drawn carriage in Sao Lourenco, a famous spa town about a 160 miles north west of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. For more than a hundred years this whole region in Brazil has been known as the water circuit, it's dotted with water parks, all with natural springs with healing properties, or so it's been widely believed. But this Sao Lourenco is the most famous - here presidents, royalty, as well as thousands of commoners have come to take the natural mineral waters. But what's been happening to its waters over the last few years has put a question mark over the future of Sao Lourenco. And the problem is here, because we've stopped in front of a giant factory, it's owned by Nestle and they've begun pumping operations here which are taking millions and millions and litres of these natural waters and bottling them for sale. Walking up to the factory gates it looks like almost an industrial fortress. There's a huge perimeter wall right the way round, about 15 foot tall, and beyond it giant aluminium tanks in which the water that's pumped here is stored. FREDERICK What has been happening here it's a real threat to the whole region. They have illegally de-mineralised the water, they have pumped far too much water, they've brought a huge environmental damage to the whole area. And it's not a Brazilian issue, it's a planetary issue. But it's a powerful example of the future ahead of us. WAITE Franklin Frederick is a campaigner against what's been happening in Sao Lourenco. His concerns echoed by groups around the world, who are critical of the impact that multinationals have in exploiting water sources in developing countries, and then selling the products back to the inhabitants of those countries or exporting them abroad. With high profit margins, bottled water has been dubbed "liquid gold" by business analysts. And the global leader in this modern klondike is Swiss based Nestle - with products from its 67 bottling factories selling in more than 130 countries and boosting the company's multibillion pound turnover. According to Nils Rosemann - a lawyer and human rights consultant based in Islamabad - Nestle invented a blueprint factory whose design could be shipped virtually anywhere and assembled ready to start production. And with its identikit factory came an identikit brand - Pure Life, launched in 1998 and which began life in Pakistan. ROSEMANN

Well they choose Pakistan because in Pakistan they had local knowledge, they were already present, Pakistan has a quite good infrastructure for travellers like transport, highways, you have China, you have India, you have Thailand - you just go over the ocean and you are in the Emirates in Saudi Arabia. And these are the countries of the main need of bottled water. And of course Pakistan is the only country in the region that has an unregulated groundwater sector. Whoever is able to dig a hole in the ground or a well he can or she can extract as much water as they want without paying anything. WAITE Within six months, Pure Life captured more than half the market in Pakistan. And went on to be produced throughout Asia, Africa and South America. Where the impact of its production in Sao Lourenco has been closely monitored by Franklin Fredrick, a member of the National Health Council of Brazil's working party on mineral water. FREDERICK Pure Life is not just a bottled water, it's a concept. And the concept - the idea behind it is that countries such as India or Brazil they don't have a good quality of tap water. WAITE So what is the water then? FREDERICK It is purified water, it must be the same be it produced in India or in Africa or in Brazil. So they take mineral water, they de-mineralise it, they clean it and they put the same amount of minerals afterwards - it's a standard production, it tastes the same all over the world. WAITE A standardising process that Nestle introduced to Sao Lourenco's mineral water supplies in 1999 when a small bottling plant it owned at the edge of the town's famous water park was damaged by floods, and the company took the opportunity whilst repairing the damage to redevelop the whole site. Turning what had been a small operation into a sizeable production centre. But if locals were worried they had no need to be - at least according to the company's promotional blurb: PROMOTIONAL STATEMENT While at first sight there would seem to be enough water on our blue planet, in fact barely 1% of the world's water is available for human and environmental needs. As the world leader in bottled waters Nestle has a responsibility towards the sustainable use of water resources. We consult with local communities on water issues. Brazil, amazingly, contains almost 17% of all the world's underground reserves of fresh water. And this entire region - the Minas Gerais - is covered with natural springs and spa resorts. Reserves that the powerful new pumps at Nestle's plant in the water park at Sao Lourenco have been busy exploiting, much to the concern of local hydrologist Dr Gabriel Junqueira. JUNQUEIRA THROUGH TRANSLATOR I fear that a lot of the damage is irreversible for the springs that are coming from 30-40 metres depth, the aquifer has water at different levels, water that's been in there for centuries, it's picked up different mineral characteristics. And the water that's coming up to these springs that you see around is coming from different levels. And this is something that's unique, I don't even know if you have something like this in the UK or Europe, we've got 11 different springs, each with different characteristics. This is a wonder for Brazil but for the world as well. WAITE

Other residents too, like Luciana Lee, were taken by surprise when the owners of the park, Nestle, began greatly expanding their local operation there, and surrounding the new complex with a high concrete wall. LEE The factory it grew in silence. They started just building and it became a huge factory. WAITE What did local people make of it? LEE We started shouting, we did some acts - sending e-mails to everybody but nothing worked. I couldn't understand how they built this enormous plant, it's very huge and on top of this sanctuary. SINGING WAITE The water park itself is a very beautiful place, with its groves and glades, a couple of small lakes for boating or fishing and sound effects provided by waterfowl and monkeys. On the day of my visit, with campaigner Franklin Frederick, families are out in force. In one corner, local choirs are singing, in another, actors performing a play. And there's a rather special setting for a young violin player. FREDERICK This is an open air theatre and as you see these huge bamboos, this is called the Bamboo Cathedral. WAITE Well this is really the most amazing sight, it's a huge arching canopy of bamboos. And the bamboos rise a hundred feet into the air and curve as they do, so surrounded in this natural amphitheatre they form a natural roofed arch. VIOLIN PLAYING Anxious to safeguard their town's unique asset, locals like hydro-geologist Dr Junqueira decided to take a closer look at Nestle's activities there. And discovered that although the company had applied for a licence to de-mineralise the spring waters it was taking from the aquifer, the natural underground reservoir below the water park, permission had been refused, nevertheless Nestle had gone ahead anyway. It had also in expanding its factory built a new perimeter wall, extending seven metres into the ground without the proper clearance required by federal law. JUNQUEIRA THROUGH TRANSLATOR This is a very vulnerable area, there should even be regulations about how many people are allowed to walk here but they've constructed this factory and wall and there's the parking for the vehicles that are there. The wall that they've constructed, it goes very deep and itself is disturbing the aquifer. WAITE Nestle says the foundations of the wall are not deep enough to have any impact on the aquifer. But according to the locals Nestle's pumping activities certainly are. Pumping that was taking out more than half a million litres a day and which residents maintain has seriously affected the town's most precious asset - its therapeutic springs. Luciana Lee: LEE

All these waters they used to taste differently, one for each ailment, and now they taste all the same. They took away the good water ... WAITE The groundwater. LEE Yeah the groundwater. So I don't like to come here anymore, I really don't. WAITE Around the park are treatment rooms, places to bathe or have a massage, you can even sniff the natural gas or have an outdoor shower in mineral water. But most people simply drink it from the series of natural springs that are dotted around, each of them housed in its own individual terracotta roofed pavilion. You take the waters with - well it's rather like a sort of telescopic cup, it flips out and becomes a plastic cup. You go up to the spring, the iron spring, fill up your cup and take the waters. Tastes pretty unremarkable to me, I can't detect anything ferrous about it and the locals too say that is because the water has been affected. LEE I came to live here looking for some peace and quiet and I had asthma and it was a good place with those healing waters and we used to have a fountain, sulphur fountain, with those gases that you inhale and they're good for asthma, for sinus problems, it's gone too - no gas anymore WAITE Did you feel it was helping with your asthma? LEE It used to be good because I used to run here, I was a runner, and afterwards I'd drink the water and inhale the gases, it was real good. WAITE But something seemed to have happened that had changed the park's natural springs and gas outlets also struck Paulino De Souza, a prominent lawyer based in Rio de Janeiro who's bought a retirement home in the area. DE SOUZA When I first came to San Lourenco every fountain has a taste different from the others and we had gas natural gas. I remember my granddaughters with me smelling some gas and saying for me - what a bad thing. And now the gas no more exists. WAITE Well this is the Fonte Sulphura - the sulphur well - and there's a little pipe with a nozzle on the top and through this pipe, apparently, the natural sulphur used to bubble. Put your hand over the nozzle and you wait for the sulphur gases to build up under your thumb, give it a few seconds, I'm going to put my nose down towards it, quickly over the top, breathe in, so the gas can get into your lungs, but there's no gas he's right - to get in there. And with 70 hotels and guest houses, these changes have not gone unnoticed by visitors to Sao Lourenco and they're the lifeblood of the town, according to Flavio Valente, head of Brazil's "Human Right to Water" project.

VALENTE You see that the town lived out of the water and the park, everybody lived out of the water - it's a very small town and where most of the people live from the commercial events that go around the fact that people go there to treat themselves and to rest and to drink the waters because they think the waters are medicinal, they have medicinal capacities or had. WAITE The residents had had enough and in 2001, helped by the lawyer in their ranks, Paulino De Souza, decided to challenge Nestle in the courts. DE SOUZA We began to explore and to investigate about those things and we began to make some demonstrations against Nestle and the lack of dialogue from Nestle with the population. WAITE It was only after Nestle's new wells had been sunk and work was underway on the new wall and factory extension that the company's environmental impact assessment for the plant was completed. And it didn't make for good reading for their local opponents. JUNQUEIRA THROUGH TRANSLATOR Okay, this is the map from Nestle's own impact assessment report, it's in three colours. There's blue, which is not so vulnerable, pink, which is more vulnerable and this deep red here, which is maximum vulnerability. This is a city of Sao Lourenco, here's the river and you can see here this is the wall going around the water park, which is covering the area of maximum vulnerability - the red colour, the deep red - and this here, right in the middle of the deep red area, is Nestle's factory with dotted around it these springs which we're trying to protect. WAITE So the very area, which is the most vulnerable, is the very area that's been chosen for the plant. JUNQUEIRA THROUGH TRANSLATOR That's exactly correct. WAITE Two hundred miles away, in the country's capital, Brasilia, Flavio Valente heads a project which reports on the issues of water rights to his government and the UN. And he also had been looking into events in Sao Lourenco. VALENTE The studies that have been done by specialists show that the water in the different sources, water sources, has changed over the last few years. That also shows that something is going on underneath in the soil. Why? Because you pumped out so much water that the pressures in the systems they have a loss of soil, the special combination of minerals that was present in that water before is not there anymore either. WAITE After a petition was signed by more than 3,000 residents, the court case to close the factory went ahead. Pedro Paulo Aina is Sao Lourenco's public prosecutor. AINA THROUGH TRANSLATOR

We begin an inquiry to find the facts and after about seven months of investigation we came to the conclusion that there were two principle and fundamental problems. The illegal nature of the exploitation of the Primavera Spring and the over-exploitation of the mineral water aquifer. The excessive exploitation is dangerous not only for tourism and the whole city lives on tourism but also in the sense that it puts at risk a gift of nature that is not just Sao Lourenco's but of all humanity. WAITE The court ordered the bottling plant to close. Which it duly did - but only for a matter of days. Nestle appealed the decision and the ruling to shut the entire factory was annulled pending a final judgement in the case, which four years on is still awaited. But the company stopped de-mineralising the local water to make its Pure Life brand. Pumping hasn't ended, however, because Nestle continues to extract carbon dioxide from the waters. And while pumping continues, the locals say, so does the environmental damage. Including to the land on which the park is built. I saw for myself how cracks have appeared along the walls and the floor tiles of the pavilion housing the iron springs, the Fonte Ferruginosa. And at the nearby Magnesiano Spring Pavilion. FREDERICK The groundwater is sinking, so the surface - the soil - is sinking together. WAITE Well the crack outside this pavilion is really quite large, I mean I can look down into it, it's got to be at least four or five centimetres wide. FREDERICK Exactly, because if you take out the water you create free space. So it's a void. That's why in the former times pumping was not allowed. WAITE Nestle say the cracks are due to the natural movement of the ground and that following a bad flood the land had been saturated and has been settling. The chief concern of the people we met in Sao Lourenco, however, remained whether the characteristics of its therapeutic waters had indeed somehow been altered. Nestle told us that the question of taste was ultimately subjective but there was no scientific evidence or official report confirming any change in taste, composition or in the healing effect of the springs. Hydro-geologic systems, it pointed out, are dynamic, not static, and mineral waters can be naturally subject to small variations in levels of mineral elements. How much of a variation we tried to test for ourselves. Well this is the Fonte Ferruginosa, the Ferris Spring, the Ferris Fountain, and what I'm going to do I'm going to take samples of some of these waters to see whether they - this has supposedly got 360 milligrams of ferrous content in it - to see how the figures stack up. Take the top off. Samples we duly had analyzed in the laboratories of a major water company. Comparing them with official mineral contents tables from 2001 and 2004 and which already showed a decline in the presence of things like iron and magnesium. And our results did indeed appear to indicate that that decline was continuing. The concerns over local water supplies being exploited by multinationals are shared by many people in Brazil, not just those in Sao Lourenco. When 35,000 complaints were received by the National Council of Brazilian Bishops the churches decided to launch a campaign to protect the country's waters from privatisation. Its executive secretary is Father Martino Lenz [phon.] LENZ

This campaign is being done together with some other churches because water is such an important issue, it's not a merchandise, it's the source of life, water is the source of life. There are many, many other areas in which private business can work and get their money but not in these fundamental questions like water and environment, has to be preserved. Our preoccupation is that if this happened in Sao Lourenco it just may happen in many other places. WAITE And it appears it has. Five thousand miles north of Brazil, in the Great Lakes region of the United States, locals having been fighting a similar battle. If Brazil has 17% of all the world's underground reserves of fresh water, the Great Lakes area accounts for 20% of all the world's surface fresh water. And Sanctuary Springs in the heart of Michigan is - like Sao Lourenco - an ancient water source and amenity in an historic and beautiful setting. SWIER It is a wildlife preserve where approximately 800 deer. I have children and grandchildren and we have all enjoyed all of the waters here in Michigan, for fishing, for canoeing and just for the beauty, we have so much to be thankful for when we have all of this water in Michigan. WAITE So when five years ago locals, like Terry Swier, heard that Nestle proposed to build a factory to draw hundreds of millions of gallons of water from the aquifer, that supplies the sanctuary stream, just as in Brazil, she and others objected. SWIER We went to a presentation that Nestle gave where they explained what they were going to do and how many gallons per minute they were going to be taking. None of us are scientists but common sense told us there's going to be a problem here. The plant manager stood up in front of all of us with a big grin on his face and said - We will not come where we're not wanted. I think that at the very beginning the citizens in the area said - You are not wanted here. WAITE And the 1800 people who formed a group calling itself Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation invited attorney Jim Olson to offer his legal expertise. OLSON It didn't ring right with them, what Nestle was saying. They knew their lakes, they knew their stream, they knew the marsh and it didn't make sense that Nestle would be pulling out what they were proposing at that point was three or four hundred million gallons a year. Knowing their system they didn't believe that this wouldn't have an impact. WAITE And when an approach to the local town council failed to halt the plant's operations in autumn 2003 the Michigan citizens took their protest to court. The judge himself travelled the disputed waterway in a canoe and again, as in Sao Lourenco, the initial court ruling seemed a victory for the objectors. OLSON The judge ultimately in the case shut down the well and concluded that there was no property right or legal right or water right for a company to extract water in a fashion that would diminish the flow or reduce the level of any lake, stream or wetland. WAITE

However again, just as in Brazil, the victory was short-lived, Nestle appealed and the plant, like the one in Sao Lourenco, was allowed to continue pumping until a final verdict was reached. A verdict that's still awaited. Nestle have once again stressed to us that their use of groundwater has not caused any damage. However, according to the locals, the impact of Nestle's activities on Sanctuary Springs has been what they always feared. SWIER Well here we are, we're standing on the dead stream and we're seeing the damage that has been done and to me it will never come back. The water, the beauty, the animals, everything that's here, was absolutely gorgeous and the stream that flowed, which you don't see it flowing right now, it's heartbreaking. WAITE But the company told us that two years of field observation showed no adverse effects. Surface water levels, Nestle says, are fully consistent with those before the arrival of the new plant. After, what they call, differing precipitation amounts and other variables are taken into consideration. Jim Olson remains unconvinced. OLSON As we sit today there are places in this stream where Nestle is pumping where there is a trickle of water where there used to be a foot or more of water flowing. That is dramatic. And Nestle says well our pumping isn't causing that it's just low rainfall and it's true we've had in that area of the state 70% of the normal rainfall but you can look back in time when there has been those same periodic seasonal droughts - there's always been water in the stream. I mean anybody could look at that and say hey even if we're not causing it I'm certainly not going to take water out of a stream that's in this condition, it's not ethical. WAITE In a detailed response from Nestle to the concerns we've heard about today the company points out that in countries where markets are developing regulatory frameworks are not always clear cut and operating a business can be a challenge. NESTLE STATEMENT A key element of Nestle's business principles is that our business should not sacrifice long term development for short term profit. Socially responsible and sustainable business practices are not an add on, they're an essential component of our long term strategy. All of Nestle's facilities at Sao Lourenco have the appropriate and necessary permissions and the regulators have been clear in confirming that the facility was managed within the law and in an environmentally sustainable manner. Nestle manages the water park. The funds raised through the price of admission are entirely reinvested in the park's maintenance, it would be self-defeating and bad business to deplete a water source in which significant funds have been invested. For the residents in both the communities we visited however the battle goes on. In Minas Gerais just as in Michigan with its new neighbour Nestle. SWIER I look at it and I say this is worth fighting because this is my legacy to my family, to my - to my children and my grandchildren is that why should some corporation have the right to come in here for the privatisation of our water? It just does not make sense to me and I know that we're right and the David and Goliath battle - I will fight it till the very end.

Steal the Water, Push the Powder

Fonte: http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=580 Mike Brady NewsNestl is again on top of the list for corporate violations around breast-milk substitutes, a UK report reveals. Meanwhile in Brazil, residents are opposing a Nestl/Perrier bottling plant, which is drying up one of the country's historic sources of mineral water. The Serra da Mantiqueira region of Brazil is famous for its Circuito das Aguas, or water circuits, with high mineral content and medicinal properties. Four small towns, So Loureno, Caxambu, Cambuquira, and Lambari, were built up around these water circuits in the 19th century. But now the mineral content of the water is being reduced by over-pumping by Nestle/Perrier for its Pure Life brand. Around 3 years ago, many people in So Loureno, including myself, began to notice a change in the taste of the mineral waters inside the Water Park, says Franklin Fredrick, of the Brazillian Citizens for Water movement. One of the most famous water sources there, the Magnesiana, dried up and stopped flowing. Water usually needs hundreds of years inside the earth to be slowly enriched by minerals. If it is pumped in quantities greater than nature can replace it, its mineral content will gradually decrease, bringing the change in taste that we were noticing. The residents discovered that Nestl/Perrier was pumping huge amounts of water in the park from a well 150 meters deep. The water was then demineralized and transformed into Pure Life table water. As the Brazilian constitution does not allow mineral water to be demineralized, we brought our findings to the attention of the public prosecutor of the State Public Ministry in So Loureno, says Fredrick, and this led to a federal investigation of Nestl/Perrier a nd charges against the company at the end of 2001. Although Nestl lost the legal action, pumping continues as it gets through the appeal procedures, a legal process which could take ten years. Meanwhile, Citizens for Water organised protests against the company and collected 3000 signatures for a petition. In June, Franklin was one of the speakers at a human rights seminar in Nestls home town of Vevey, Switzerland. Last year the Swiss-owned company made profits of 2.65 billion on its products. Other speakers focused on the corporation's promotion of Genetically Modified Organisms, exploitation of producers, and labour-union busting. In Britain, Nestl employs more than 6,000 workers and recently announced sales in the quarter to the end of March of 8.7 billion, up from 8.4 billion for the same period in 2003. Nestl has been subjected to a 20-year boycott campaign over allegations that it has persistently breached World Health Organisation rules over promoting formula milk in developing countries. The code, drawn up in 1981 and agreed by 118 countries, says breastfeeding should be promoted above all other products and that leaflets and labels relating to breast milk substitutes should do nothing to undermine this. In the developing world, the WHO estimates that some 1.5 million children die each year because they are not adequately breastfed. Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce a mother's risk of breast cancer by up to 4.3 per cent But Nestl and other companies have been accused of flouting the rules with advertising, free samples, promotions and sponsorships. Milk substitutes have been promoted as modern in developing countries, despite the fact that the lack of clean water means infection and death is rife because of contaminated milk. The latest monitoring report from the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) profiles the aggressive marketing practices of the big 16 baby food companies and 14 bottle and teat companies. The report, Breaking the Rules, Stretching the Rules, checked some 3,000 complaints from monitors in 69 countries around the world. After legal examination about 2,000 violations were reported, many with

photos. Again Nestl is found responsible for more violations than any other company. In Thailand, it gives out samples of its milk substitutes to mothers in a marketing scheme. It provides free products to healthcare facilities from China to Armenia to Peru. In Egypt, packaging and advertising of Nestl powders repeatedly use phrases such as identical to breast-milk or as in breast-milk. In Venezuela, it distributes aprons with the company logo to nurses and other workers at pediatric wards. An 8-page brochure found in a hospital in Botswana proclaims that Growing up is Thirsty Work and promotes Lactogen for the hungry full-term infant. The launch of the report coincides with parliamentary efforts calling for the UK government to take action to implement and support the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions in the UK and internationally. In the week prior to the launch, Nestl was in the news as the high-profile charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer refused a donation of 1 million from the company. An official reason wasn't given, but it is understood that the staff at the charity called the organisation to reject the money. Nestl (UK) CEO Alastair Sykes then blasted campaigners in letters to the press, claiming that Nestl abides by the marketing requirements and is a force for good in the world. Among other things, he boasted of Nestls involvement in the Brazilian governments Zero Hunger initiative. The programme, which was intended to promote small-scale family agriculture, is now distributing Nestl processed foods, including milk powder.

Fonte de pesquisa: http://repositorio.unb.br/bitstream/10482/3768/1/Dissert_ Alessandra Bortoni Ninis.pdf

Trecho da pesquisa - Universidade de Braslia (UNB). A explorao deste novo poo contrariou o Art. 31 do Cdigo de guas Minerais 1945) que probe a desmineralizao. Considerando ameaado o recurso da qual dependem, segmentos da sociedade passaram a acusar a empresa Nestl de explorao irresponsvel dos mananciais. Os seus argumentos se baseiam na Poltica Nacional de Meio Ambiente (Lei 6938/81), que afirma ser necessria "a compatibilizao do desenvolvimento econmico-social com a preservao da qualidade do meio ambiente e do equilbrio ecolgico". Fonte: http://www.ciad.mx/archivos/revista-eletronica/RES41/Jurandir.pdf
Trechos da pesquisa: ... movimentos, sindicatos, bairros, comunidades, igrejas e entidades internacionais contra as consequncias ambientais e sociais que a privatizao das guas pode gerar. ... observamos a ocorrncia de uma srie de situaes que remetem a mecanismos que (re)produzem desigualdades socioambientais. Em todos os casos institucionalizados no MPMG, est quase ausente a meno a mobilizaes coletivas empreendidas por comunidades atingidas pela degradao ambiental. Nesse sentido, os arquivos dos rgos oficiais parecem no ser permeveis voz dessas populaes ... Mais fontes de informao sobre esse assunto: http://water.oikoumene.org/en/whatwedo/news-events/brazilian-churches-committed-to-the-defense-ofwater-as-a-human-right-and-public-good http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=580 http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com.br/2006/11/nestls-contempt-for-brazilian-law-my.html http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue//2002/10/40263.shtml http://aguasdesaolourenco.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/movimento-de-cidadania-pelas-aguas-de-saolourenco-mg-sintese-historica-2/ http://gesellschaftskritik.jimdo.com/startseite-nachrichten/1-gallerie/ http://papodehomem.com.br/presidente-da-nestle-nega-que-a-agua-seja-um-direito-humano-essencial/ Nestl e Ambev fecham parceria no segmento de guas http://exame.abril.com.br/negocios/noticias/nestle-e-ambev-fecham-parceria-no-segmento-de-aguas-2

http://www.cade.gov.br http://www.mp.mg.gov.br http://www.jusbrasil.com.br