On Thursday I was a guest on Lehigh Valley Discourse, WDIY's program hosted by Alan Jennings. Despite some distractions, I was able to bring up one of Lehigh Valley's biggest problems, cronyism. Cronyism and sacred cows run the valley. An Op-Ed piece in this weekend's Morning Call illustrates the point. Because they hire veterans, Nestle is lauded for its plans to build another large plant, this one in central Pennsylvania. Their Lehigh Valley plant is at capacity for water usage. Of course hiring veterans sounds like a good thing, but sucking the water out of Pennsylvania to fill plastic bottles all over the world is a problem. The Op-Ed is essentially a public relations piece for Nestle, presented as an editorial.
Here in Allentown we face higher water prices because LCA wants to implement a back door price hike, by increasing the residential billing cycle. (each bill contains a minimum charge, effectively resulting in an increase) We are in essence subsidizing the profit margin of Nestle and other commercial users.
Nestle was brought to the valley by Don Cunningham, now director of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation. Apparently, the Morning Call has no problem with a Nestle feel good editorial piece, but try and submit something critical about the local sacred cows and cronyism to the paper. Expect no reply, much less seeing it printed.
above reprinted from July of 2018
UPDATE FEBRUARY 17, 2021: Nestle's local operation has been purchased by a large holding company. In 2009, its then recent expansion in the valley, and the threat to our own water supply, were only covered by this blog. The Morning Call would not cover the concerns of local environmental activists at the time. Nestle made continuing donations to the Wildlands Conservancy, also ensuring their silence. The Morning Call itself is now being acquired by a hedge fund. While we don't know how this acquisition will affect their staffing, they have already been a lapdog to the local sacred cows for well over a decade.
bottled water has become essential for many people, especially in time of disasters. Water is never actually eliminated it is all recycled. If we want bottled water, and I would say the vast majority of people use it, someone has to do it. What is the alternative?
ReplyDeleteDon't drink the water bottles or otherwise. Mike do you see them stirring up the mud preparing for development by the hump bridge. There has got to be a lot of hazardous waste flowing into the little Lehigh from that sight with no over site from Allentown.
ReplyDelete