Dear MITech.Com Editorial Board,
In an article you ran on August 4, 2008 “US Senate Approves Great Lakes Compact – House To Vote After Labor Day,” you state that the Great Lakes Compact will “strictly limit water diversions.” While the Great Lakes Compact could be a means to protect Great Lakes waters, there are serious concerns with the exceptions laid out in the Compact �?? such as that allowing the packaging and sale of Great Lakes water as a “product” for private gain as well as its explicit exemption of bottled water.
Further, the Compact fails to incorporate the Public Trust doctrine that protects Great Lakes basin waters from private export and sale, protecting them from claims as a product under international trade laws.
These exceptions undermine the very purpose of the Compact and create a dangerous precedent for exporting water from the U.S., in this instance from the largest body of freshwater in North America. The water of the Great Lakes Region is for the residents of that area, not a commodity to be exploited by wealthy multi-national corporations. An international coalition including Food & Water Watch, Council of Canadians, Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, and Canadian Union of Public Employees has emerged to demand that Congress fill these loophole before ratifies the Compact.
Sincerely,
Wenonah Hauter
Executive Director
Food & Water Watch
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