Nestlé ’s perspective in the wake of finger pointing.

Photo Courtesy: Arrowhead.com

By K.P. Sander 

Riverside County – By now you have most likely heard of Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D-California) declaration of a statewide drought emergency, urging all Californians to reduce their water usage by 20 percent.  Not surprising, with California facing one of its most severe droughts on record.

Municipalities and individuals alike are trying to do their part: shorter showers, landscaping changes, fixing leaky faucets, and more.  But what about Corporate America?  Is everyone doing their part?

There is some controversy surrounding corporate giant, Nestlé Waters North America, owner of Arrowhead Water.  Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water is sourced from a natural spring located on the reservation for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, located at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains.

Nestlé leases tribal land and has been extracting the water from wells near the spring for about 15 years.  With underground water stores declining due to the drought – in a desert area that only gets a few inches of rainfall each year – many are wondering how much water Nestlé is extracting, and what accountability measures are in place.

The Morongo Reservation is in itself a sovereign nation, and as such is not required to comply with Gov. Brown’s drought mandate.  But is that allowing Nestlé to make environmentally unconscionable decisions?

The Desert Sun reported that Morongo filed a 2013 accounting with the state for 598 acre-feet of groundwater being pumped: “Those amounts translate to about 200 million gallons a year,” or enough water for approximately 400 typical desert homes.”  Nestlé allegedly stopped releasing annual reports of accountability in 2009.

The spring in question was sold by the Cabazon Water District to the Morongo tribe in early 2000, and the Arrowhead bottling production started shortly thereafter.  While no one is questioning that the plant helps the economy in terms of jobs, some say bottling the water in the midst of a severe drought is not the best use of the resource.

The truth of the matter is that U.S. consumers are drinking more water – specifically more bottled water.  And Nestlé is not the corporate villain they have been made out to be.

Jane Lazgin, a spokesperson for Nestlé Waters North America, Inc., provides a different perspective, and one that is more in alignment with California’s drought concerns than previously thought.

Nestlé does, in fact, have five springs in Southern California, and one of those springs is on Tribal lands belonging to the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.  Nestlé employs a team of geologists who manage and measure each of these springs for sustainability.

“Our water use needs to be reported to the governing body, and in the case of the Morongo spring, it is the Tribal officials – who, incidentally, are great conservationists and hold Nestlé  to a very high standard,” says Lazgin.

Overall, water consumption is up due to health consciousness, and Nestlé supplies drinking water as an alternative to sweetened, caloric drinks; good for health and good for the environment.  Lazgin says that Nestlé’s job is to be sure that they have a sustainable supply of water available to meet demands.

“By nature, the bottling of water is an efficient process,” she says.

Nestlé’s production plant has received a silver LEED rating (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to guide and provide sustainability standards).  To earn points for this environmental leadership rating, they need to limit water and energy loss; so, yes, they definitely share the concerns for California’s drought.

Nestlé is an obvious water user, but of the 108 facilities that bottle water in California, Nestlé owns only five of them.  And even this is only a “drop in the bucket” of water used by industrial manufacturers.

Says Lazgin, “This is the equivalent of watering two golf courses over the period of one year.”

To further share in environmental consciousness, Nestlé has been able to extract 60% of the plastic used in all of their water containers, and the bottles themselves are manufactured with 50% recycled materials.  Working in concert with the CarbonLITE recycling plant in Riverside, California, Nestlé strives to further reduce carbon emissions and environmental waste.

“It creates an eco-friendly domino effect of savings to the environment – less plastic, lower shipping costs, less energy being used,” says Lazgin about their commitment to the environment.

Perhaps it’s all about perspective, but Nestlé appears to be working with – not against – the efforts to assist with California’s drought initiatives.

Staff Reports

Riverside – Steven’s Hope for Children is joining forces with 26 Jersey Mike’s Subs restaurants throughout the Inland Empire for the 5^th Annual March “Month of Giving” fundraising campaign.  During the month of March, customers can make a donation to Steven’s Hope for Children at any area Jersey Mike’s restaurant.

The campaign will culminate in Jersey Mike’s, “Day of Giving,” on Wed., Mar. 25, when 100 percent of the day’s sales at Jersey Mike’s locations nationwide will go to more than 120 different charities, including hospitals, youth organizations, food banks and more.

On the Mar. 25 “Day of Giving,” all 26 Inland Empire Jersey Mike’s restaurants will donate 100 percent of the day’s sales – every single dollar that comes in – to Steven’s Hope for Children.  For a list of participating restaurants in your area and for more information on their charity partners, please visit www.jerseymikes.com/mog. Everyone is invited to visit a local Jersey Mike’s restaurant and enjoy a delicious sub meal.

“When you see the Jersey Mike’s commercials that say their sandwiches are ‘a sub above,’ it’s really an understatement.  It’s ‘a company above’!  The vision that Peter Cancro had in the early days is consistently embraced throughout the organization including the person slicing the meat at your local store,” said Tony Cappelli, president and co-founder of Steven’s Hope for Children. “That culture of giving and the ‘Month of Giving,’ is creating ripples of impact that enable nonprofits like Steven’s Hope to fulfill our mission and vision of helping families of seriously ill or injured children. Thank you, Jersey Mike’s, for allowing us to be a part of your ripple.”

Last year’s Month of Giving campaign raised $2.1 million for 100 different charities nationwide (more than $115,000 was raised in the Inland Empire alone).  Since 2010, Jersey Mike’s locations throughout the country have raised nearly $10 million for worthy local causes and distributed more than 1 million free sub sandwiches to help numerous causes.

“I would like to extend a personal invitation to come in and enjoy a Jersey Mike’s sub during our Month of Giving,” said Peter Cancro, Jersey Mike’s founder and CEO, who started the company when he was only 17-years old.  “This year we hope to raise more than $2.5 million to support these local causes so we can bring hope to all those involved with the charities and make a difference in people’s lives.”

Jersey Mike’s offers a sub above, serving authentic fresh sliced subs on freshly baked bread (the same recipe it started with in 1956) and is passionate about giving back to its local communities. For more information, please visit www.jerseymikes.com or follow them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jerseymikes) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/jerseymikes).

Staff Reports

Riverside – Two men with ties to the Inland Empire were each sentenced on Tues., Feb. 24 to 25 years in federal prison for participating in plots to provide material support to terrorists and to kill American personnel.

Sohiel Omar Kabir, 37, a naturalized United States citizen who was born in Afghanistan and who until late 2011 resided in Pomona; and Ralph Deleon, 26, of Ontario, a lawful permanent resident and citizen of the Philippines, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge, Virginia A. Phillips.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, the sentencing follows a 6½-week trial last summer in which a federal jury convicted Kabir and Deleon for their role in a plot to travel overseas to fight against U.S. and Allied forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Specifically, the jury convicted Kabir and Deleon of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder United States military and government personnel.

The jury also found Kabir guilty of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, namely Al-Qa’ida, and conspiring to receive military-type training from Al-Qa’ida. In addition, the jury convicted Deleon of conspiring to murder, maim or kidnap overseas.

Two other defendants in the case – Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales and Arifeen David Gojali – previously pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Phillips on March 16.

“This case demonstrates the need for vigilance and swift action to counter the false allure of violent extremism,” said United States Attorney, Stephanie Yonekura. “When confronted with young Americans who succumbed to the empty promises of violent extremism and sought to assist a terrorist group in killing American soldiers abroad, law enforcement acted swiftly to eliminate the threat.”

David Bowdich, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI,s Los Angeles Field Office, commented: “The defendants betrayed the citizens of the United States by supporting terror and conspiring to murder military members serving overseas. The lengthy prison sentences handed to Mr. Kabir and Mr. DeLeon should send a clear message to those who support terror groups that the FBI and our partners are committed to preventing deadly plots hatched either at home or abroad targeting the United States.”

The evidence presented at trial showed Kabir introduced Deleon and Santana to radical Islamic ideology in 2010. Kabir left the United States in the final days of 2011, arriving in Afghanistan in July 2012. While in Afghanistan, Kabir continued to communicate with Deleon and others, encouraging them to join him in Afghanistan. Kabir told the group that he had contacts with terrorist organizations and that, when they arrived, he and the group would join “the Students” – referring to the Taliban – and later “the Professors” – referring to Al-Qa’ida.

Deleon, Kabir, and others involved in the plot were heavily influenced by the doctrine of now-deceased Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula spokesman Anwar Al-Awlaki and other advocates of violent jihad, whose teachings they frequently invoked during their planning and preparation in this case.

In Sept. 2012, Deleon recruited Gojali to join the plot to travel overseas to engage in violent jihad. As part of their planning and preparation, Deleon led Santana and Gojali in training activities in Southern California, including participating in paintball activities and traveling to firearms ranges to fire AK-47s and other assault weapons, which they expected to use in future fighting.

The men made plans to rejoin Kabir, who had relocated to Kabul, Afghanistan. In effort to avoid detection by law enforcement, Deleon and the others planned to cross the border into Mexico by land and from there to travel to the Middle East by air. In Nov. 2012, Deleon purchased airline tickets for the group. On Nov. 16, 2012, the FBI arrested Deleon, Santana and Gojali as they departed a Chino apartment in a car driven by one of Deleon’s associates intending to drive to Mexico. Kabir was taken into custody by American military personnel in Afghanistan.

The investigation of this terrorist plot was conducted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Riverside, California. The Riverside JTTF is comprised of members from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, the Riverside Police Department, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, the Beaumont Police Department, the Ontario Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.