McCloud

It was being called a “back room sweetheart deal,” and the consequences could have been disastrous.  The residents of a former mill town in McCloud, CA, turned to Manatt to help fight a project that would have led to the building of a million-square-foot water-bottling plant in their tiny town.  With almost no public notice or input, and with a deeply flawed environmental impact report, the town had entered into a one-sided contract with Nestle Waters of North America.  Nestle would pay the town roughly $115 per day for pristine water that was worth $2 billion per year at retail—a 4.7 million percent markup.  In a drought or shortage, Nestle would have rights to the water before the residents.  The plant would have affected area fisheries and could have led to environmental problems affecting millions of Californians.  The range of legal issues involved played to Manatt’s cross-disciplinary strengths and, once we took the lead, the tide began to turn.  Ultimately, Nestle abandoned the contract safeguarding the rights and quality of life for residents of the area.