Announcing Save America's Water at www.saveamericaswater.com For Immediate Release For Wide Distribution October 10, 2000 For more information contact Alice McCombs 715-524-5998 (Shawano, WI) Communities across America struggling to protect their water supplies from being depleted by bottling firms like Perrier have a new website to help them. Save America's Water at www.saveamericaswater.com is a national website dedicated to helping people in the United States prevent damage to their communities' water supplies by multinational water bottling companies. The website is the creation of members of grassroots organizations from Wisconsin and Florida who have been struggling with Perrier's subsidiary bottling companies. Hiroshi Kanno, Secretary-Treasurer of Concerned Citizens of Newport and Board member of Waterkeepers of Wisconsin states, "This website is dedicated to all who are concerned about the use and abuse of our most precious natural resource, water. I am personally very pleased with its format and easy accessibility. I look forward to the input from community organizations and concerned people across the country and the globe to this website. I'm proud that our organization is one of the originators of this important website." "Foreign multinational bottling companies just see America's water as a commodity for sale to make profits for their shareholders," states Alice McCombs, the webmaster who designed the site. McCombs is President of EarthWINS, an online organization that provides free website services for groups fighting the proposed Crandon mine and other environmental issues. McCombs states, "Wisconsin citizens don't like corporations trying to mine our state's water. Save America's Water will help people here and across the U. S stand up to corporations trying to take our country's water. Information about water-bottling companies is available on the site, as well as links to news coverage. States which have communities impacted by water-bottling projects have their own sections. At this time the states of Florida, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin are represented on the website with more to come. Terri Wolfe, President of Save Our Springs in Florida states, "These guys are stealing our natural resource from an area that has a chronic water shortage. That's a national disgrace." Pictures on the Florida section show depletion and damage to Crystal Springs near Wolfe's home that she believes resulted from a local bottling operation. Wolfe states, "The government should be able to allocate water to various municipalities for the common public good and even to businesses in the public's interest, but to sell it to a private bottling company to package and sell to foreign destinations, while central Florida rations water, is difficult to accept." Visitors to the site can participate in two forums, one for people interested in discussing problems with water-bottling companies and another for discussing other threats to U.S. water. McCombs states, "Threats to America's water are not limited to those posed by bottling operations. Other activities such as mining, oil exploration and the production of toxic chemcals all cause depletion and contamination of our country's water supplies. I'm hoping the forums at Save America's Water can help people find solutions to these serious problems." Carl Zimmerman of Trout Unlimited states, "Water defines the character of Wisconsin. It flows through generations of our society, nourishing and sustaining our lives. We can use the website to help pass far-sighted legislation that will provide strong and long-lasting legal conduits for the underground aquifers that carry the essence of Wisconsin to all who live here." MaryJane Schmudlach, one of the founders of Friends of the Mecan, states "Save America's Water website is a wonderful opportunity for citizens from all over the country to share with others their struggles in protecting waters in their little corner of the world. Resources are becoming scarce. Aquifers are becoming overstressed. Large corporations are pushing their way into rural areas looking for the resources that remain. It's time to take action. Our youth and the generations yet to come are counting on us." "The email address for the website is [EMAIL PROTECTED]," states McCombs. "When people unite together for a common goal they can do wonderful things. We can save our country's water for our children and grandchildren." ******************** Alice McCombs P O Box 573 Shawano, WI 54166 Ph: 715-524-5998 FAX (Call First): 715-524-9958 www.earthwins.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
