Bogus Business? Bottling Bute - Sierra Club BC

WATER
the water to a tank on the skiff. The
capacity of the tank on the skiff is
112.5 m3/d – apparently the tank determined
the quantity of water applied
for from each stream.
The skiff will transfer its water
to a barge in the inlet, and then move
on to the next stream. At intervals, the
barge, or barges, will be towed to a
bottling plant, most likely in the Vancouver
area. The plan states that the
applicants will not own or operate the
bottling facility.
Subsequent clarifications by
Frank Voelker, Band Manager for the
Kwiakah First Nation, described the
project quite differently: only 3 to 6
streams will be used each day, only
34 licences are being sought, bottling
facilities will be on Vancouver Island
and the mainland, and plastic bottles
will not be used.
The initial applications were filed
by William S. Chornobay, a resident
of Langley, self-employed businessman
and former mining exploration
executive. Subsequent applications
were then filed by Da’naxda’xw
Awaetlala First Nation et al (Knight
Inlet), the Kwiakah First Nation et
al (Bute, Toba and Jervis), and most
recently by 0879144 BC Ltd. All of
the applications have Mr. Chornobay
in common, though he has chosen not
to speak with Watershed Sentinel or
other media.
At best, the ostensible water bottling
project is fraught with challenges.
But perhaps these water licences
are being “staked” in advance of a
reformed BC Water Act which will
allow licences for more opportunistic
trading of permits in new water
markets. Or is funding from Indian
Affairs and Northern Development
for First Nation community economic
development passing through the
Da’naxda’xw Awaetlala and Kwiakah
accounts to Sigma and Chornobay
Continued on Page 28
Laugh till you Gag
A selection of water gimmicks ranging from laughably
trite to inexcusably offensive
Ethos Water.
Starbucks bought Ethos
Water in 2005, and
made a commitment to
provide $10 million to
humanitarian water programs
by 2010. By 2010,
it had paid only $6.2 million.
Blaming it on the
economy, Starbucks itself
still managed to pull
in revenues of nearly $11
billion, and net income
of over $1 billion. Ethos
Water, available in BC,
is bottled in Pennsylvania,
and trucked to the
Starbucks near you. It
sells in Victoria for $2.35 a bottle, ten cents of which goes to the humanitarian
programs. Clear winner of the Most Reprehensible Water Scam Award
for ecological impacts, humanitarian hypocrisy, and for using the suffering of
others and the slogan “Helping children get clean water” to make a sick buck.
10 Thousand BC. The stylish bottle contains water from Alpine Creek
in Toba Inlet, reportedly bottled in Kelowna, and selling for prices from $12
up to $46. It is bottled to music and sealed with a cork in a custom-made, foilwrapped
bottle. You probably can’t buy it anywhere near you, but can find it
in Dean & Deluca in Kuwait and Claridge’s in London. Company founder Tim
Bates tells the story that ‘he had the “heart to make a difference” after travelling
around developing countries, where people were becoming ill because
of bad water.’ This apparently led him “to create a corporation which [has]
a genuine passion to meaningfully contribute to the betterment of our local,
national and international communities.”
Blackwater. “Natural, clean BC fresh water” is “enriched with… proprietary
fulvic acid formula. You get the refreshing taste of pure water along
with the incredible natural benefits of fulvic acid.” Wikipedia describes fulvic
acid as “produced by biodegradation of dead organic matter. It is not a single
acid; rather, it is a complex mixture of many different acids.” It is, apparently,
a good anti-oxidant. And it turns clear water black. ($3.89 at Market on Yates
in Victoria.)
Redleaf, Canada’s Ultra-Premium Water. This water, from a spring near
Chilliwack, is “structurally enhanced,” giving it a “silky smooth feel and taste,”
before being put in its 100% biodegradable bottle. ($1.50 at Market on Yates.)
Watershed Sentinel 27
March-April 2011