Forest Service sued for letting Nestle pump without a permit

The US Forest Service is in hot water for allegedly allowing Nestle to drain the San Bernardino National Forest for 27 years.

Water pipes stretch for miles deep into the San Bernardino National Forest, which leads from 11 different wells on federal land to the Nestle bottling plant in Cabazon.

A lawsuit was filed on Tuesday October 13 by three different advocacy groups: the Center For Biological Diversity, the Story of Stuff Project, and the Courage Campaign Institute.

According to a lawsuit filed against the US Forest Service, Nestle has been pumping water from these wells without a permit since 1988. Combined with the drought, this is taking a toll.

Stiv Wilson, campaign director of the Story of Stuff Project, which advocates building a healthier planet, said, “According to our sources in the San Bernardino National Forest, which includes biologists and scientists, that take is not inconsequential and it is adversely impacting the forest, so by law Nestle should not be allowed to operate in the San Bernardino National Forest.”

Advocacy groups like the Story of Stuff Project want the Forest Service to conduct hydrological and geological studies required by law, to issue a permit. These studies would be paid for by Nestle and would uncover whether or not Nestle is taking water in a way that adversely impacts our public lands.

KESQ reached out to representatives with Nestle and they told us that since they are not directly named in the lawsuit they have no comment.

We also reached out the the US Forest Service but they never returned our calls.