Statements - Release of Corporate Accountability International Report “Tapping Congress to Get off the Bottle”

For Immediate Release: February 8, 2011

By Kristin Urquiza, Think Outside the Bottle Campaign Director

Good morning and thank you for coming. My name is Kristin Urquiza and I am the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign Director for Corporate Accountability International.

Corporate Accountability International is a membership organization that has, for the last 33 years, successfully challenged irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. Our Think Outside the Bottle campaign is Corporate Accountability International’s national effort to promote, protect and ensure public funding for the nation’s public water systems.

Three esteemed guests, each of whom brings a special perspective to the topic of water and who controls it, join me today:

• Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton from Washington, D.C.

• George Hawkins, General Manager of the DC Water and Sewer Authority

• Bruce Williams, Mayor of Takoma Park, MD

Before we turn to Rep. Norton, I’d like to offer a word about “Tapping Congress to Get Off the Bottle,” the report Corporate Accountability International releases today. A copy of the report is in your packet.

We examined the Congressional expenditures on bottled water for House activities from April 2009 through March 2010. We found that the House of Representatives spent at least $860,000 on bottled water – or almost $2,000 for each House member – over a year’s time.

Why is this significant? Spending so much on bottled water sends a number of wrong messages to the American public.

It says we have money to waste. It says we don’t care about the environment. It says our tap water is not safe enough. It says advertising matters more than the facts.

In fact, Congress spending almost a million dollars a year on bottled water for its own operations says all the wrong things.

In truth, our public water system is among the best in the world, and is better regulated than bottled water. And it’s cheap for taxpayers, costing pennies for what would cost many dollars if bottled for profit. Our public water system is an American success story. It’s worth preserving.

I encourage all of you to review the report, as it contains additional findings regarding Congressional spending on bottled water and threats to our nation’s public water system. Also in your packet is a two page news release that summarizes the findings as well.

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By Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressional Representative for the District of Columbia

I begin by thanking Corporate Accountability International and DC Water for encouraging so many to become bottle free and for not letting Congress off the hook.

I have to give it to the genius of American business and marketing though. Companies that market soft drinks and juices discovered a new product as they turned on their collective faucets, put a price on this public commodity, bottled it, and proceeded contaminate the environment with plastic bottles that may carry health risks. Any day now, they will be selling bottled air to the House of Representatives.

The new House majority, on a hunt for what to cut, need look no further than some our own offices – not mine, I am pleased to say – and hearing rooms, where members of Congress can only get a drink of water from a bottle. Today, we call on Congress to go bottle free, bring back the pitchers of safe tap water that the government pays for anyway as a DC Water customer, and save a million dollars annually.

How we fell for bottling our water as necessary and even hip is a cautionary tale of its own. There are several indicators of an advanced nation - not IT, as many developing nations have cell phones and other gadgets, and not automobiles; they are ubiquitous. Safe drinking water, though, is such a recognized salient indicator of an advance society, and the US crossed that threshold as the 20th century began. That miracle of a rebuilding brought us bottled water in the seventies. Jogging and bottled became popular at the same time. Water scares here and elsewhere added to concerns about tap water.

But did anyone ever wonder about the safety of bottled water? We presumed that, if it came in a bottle, it must be safe, yet almost 70 percent of bottled water is exempt from any FDA regulation because of giant loopholes. Tap water, on the other hand, is closely regulated and monitored throughout the US. Tap water is constantly tested for e coli, fecal matter and other contaminants. Bottled water is not. It is time to swear off bottled water, and with it, the bottles that fill our landfills.

Our House office accounts have been cut justifiably in the light of the economy. As long as Congress is cutting, it’s time to pick the low hanging bottled fruit and save a million dollars in-House, and much more for the environment.

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By George Hawkins, General Manager of District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority

My name is George Hawkins, and I serve as the general manager for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. Thank you for having me here to speak today and thanks to all here who were able to attend this event.

Spending taxpayer dollars on bottled water here on Capitol Hill sends the wrong message about the value and importance of tap water right here in the District of Columbia and by association, across the country as well.

Municipal water is tested hundreds of times a month and is much more highly regulated than bottled water. And, when it comes to the Capitol complex, DC Water can confirm the quality of water that flows into these buildings.

As of late there’s been a lot of discussion about fiscal concerns on Capitol Hill. If fiscal responsibility is the aim of the new Congress, I would remind them that our tap water costs less than a penny a gallon, and bottled water costs hundreds of times more.

It is for these reasons that last month I wrote House Speaker John Boehner, offering to supply every Representative his or her own reusable water bottles to promote tap water in the halls of Congress. I also offered to conduct free water quality testing in any Congressional office building, should there be lingering doubts as to the safety of DC Water.

At DC Water, we’re glad that the members of Congress mentioned here today have expressed support for the findings of this report. We stand ready to assist members of Congress as they take additional steps towards renewing confidence in our public water systems, starting in their own backyard.

The next move? Making sure everyone in America has affordable, reliable and clean tap water, just as the Members of Congress and their staff members enjoy here in Washington – by supporting adequate investments in public water systems across this country.

Thank you.

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By Bruce Williams, Mayor of Takoma Park, Maryland

My name is Bruce Williams, and I’m the Mayor of Takoma Park, Maryland. I'm also an appointee of Governor O'Malley to the Chesapeake Bay Program Local Government Advisory Committee, which advises the EPA and our local governors on how local government can work with the federal and state governments to clean up the Bay.

Takoma Park has joined over 100 cities and 3 states that have cut taxpayer spending on bottled water at government offices, meetings and events.

Not only is bottled water spending an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars, but purchasing it sends the absolute wrong message about our public water systems.

This is not to mention that tap water is much more highly regulated than what comes out of the bottle. The city itself provides water that is every bit, if not more safe, more reliable and equally thirst-quenching.

Our city has some of the best tap water in the world. But to keep it that way, we need to continue to invest in our public water infrastructure.

That’s why we have made the decision to stop buying bottled water in Takoma Park, Maryland and invest in alternatives.

We save money on the purchase of water, we save the Anacostia River and the Chesapeake Bay from discarded plastic bottles, and we save the cost of fuel for the trucks that deliver bottled water. That's a win/win/win.

I’m here to join Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside the Bottle campaign in calling on Congress to follow the lead of the groundswell of support from over 100 Mayors and 3 Governors who have taken action on this issue.

If Congress takes action, it will send a clear message to the public: we’re choosing tap water, so you should too, to save money and preserve the environment at the same time. I feel hopeful we can turn things around in support of public water.

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