Local water advocates hail closure of southern Ontario bottling plant as a win for conservation

A water bottling plant in Aberfoyle, Ont., is set to close early in 2025, which will result in job losses and a drop in tax revenue for the local municipality, but which advocates are calling a win.

The plant — which was operated by Nestlé Waters North America until 2021 when the company changed its name to BlueTriton — is slated to close in January and 144 workers will be laid off.

The announcement comes after BlueTriton announced a merger with Primo Brands earlier this month.

Local water and Indigenous advocates are calling this a significant step forward for water conservation in Wellington County.

"There were a number of reactions, but I would say the most resounding one was just overwhelming joy," Arlene Slocombe said in an interview with CBC News. Slocombe is the executive director of the Wellington Water Watchers, a local non-profit focused on ending water bottling operations in Wellington County. 

CBC News reached out to BlueTriton and Primo Brands but did not hear back in time for publishing.

BlueTriton has initiated the public sale process for the plant but has not given a specific reason for the closure.

'We're in a water crisis,' advocate says

For 18 years, local groups have opposed the extraction of water for bottling in the area.

Slocombe says bottled water "is fundamentally a threat to public water."

"Large numbers of people drinking packaged water pose a significant threat to the future of universal, safe public drinking water provisions," she said. 

Makasa Looking Horse Henry is the traditional ecological knowledge community navigator for the Global Climate Change Centre at Six Nations of the Grand River. She says the plant has been taking fresh water that belongs to her community.

"It's taking away water from our future generations. Even right now, we're in a water crisis, so a big company taking any water and making a profit off it is extremely wrong in my view," she said.

Economic impact on municipality

BlueTriton also owns two other wells in Wellington County — one near Erin and another just outside Elora. The future of those wells is not clear either.

In a statement to CBC News, Puslinch Mayor James Seeley said the company was the third largest taxpayer in Wellington County.

"Along with the loss of jobs, this is significant to our community," Seeley said of the closure. "They were a great corporate citizen."

Slocombe says increased tax revenue is a tactic water corporations use on small communities.

"It is part of a corporate playbook of large water extraction companies to situate in small, rural or typically under-resourced communities that then become dependent on the tax base," she said. "The shorter-term needs then tend to outweigh real long-term impacts and needs."

In an emailed statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli said the province is monitoring the plant closure in Aberfoyle.

"Our government remains focused on creating the conditions for job growth in regions across the province. Since we took office, Ontario has added over 850,000 jobs to the economy, including nearly 200,000 this year alone. We will continue to ensure the conditions are in place for more good-paying jobs to be created in every region and sector of our economy," the statement said.

Call to turn wells over to Six Nations

Henry says she wants to see Blue Triton correct what she views as injustices toward her community, Six Nations of the Grand River.

"We're calling for reparations for the water because that's our treaty land," she said, noting the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council issued a cease-and-desist order to BlueTriton in 2021 that was ignored.

Maskasa wants to see the company hand over its wells to Six Nations of the Grand River.

The Council of Canadians also issued a statement about the closure of the Aberfoyle plant, saying because the plant is for sale, it's possible another company could purchase it and continue to operate a water bottling facility.

"This industry has been draining the precious and finite groundwater supply in Wellington County while the local communities, including Six Nations of the Grand River, face water insecurity," the statement said.

The council says it continues to advocate for an end to water taking permits for the purposes of bottling.