How Big Water is trying to stop the National Park Service from cleaning up plastic bottles fouling the parks

The National Park Administration believes that it is a good strategy to control abandoned water bottles that clog the national park trash cans and waste logistics: stop selling disposable bottles and allow visitors to refill reusable bottles with public drinking water.
But in order to stop the park from banning plastic contaminants, the big water has stepped in --
The industry has found an ally on Capitol Hill to add a little bit.
Note an amendment to the House spending bill that will kill this policy.
With sales campaigns by environmental groups and local officials to reduce park waste and carbon emissions, disposable plastic water containers for Fiji, Evian and 200 other brands have been installed --
Lobbying on Capitol Hill has blocked the park authority\'s latest efforts in sustainable development.
\"This is a striking misleading attack on bottled water for no reason,\" said Chris Hogan, vice president of communications at the International Bottled Water Association, representing 200 home improvement bottles from glacier springs to Evian, and ahead of the bottle
Water limit.
In addition to the threat to its bottom line, the industry sold $13 billion last year, warning park services, its \"wrong\" attempt to help the environment is actually to help Coca-Cola and other \"unhealthy\" packages in the hot summer by forcing the park, and visitors will enjoy themselves instead of drinking water.
When he issued a memo to 40 8 parks, national monuments and historical sites of the system, the goal of John Jarvis, director of park services, seemed logical to allow them to cancel disposable plastic bottles
He wrote in 2011 that bottles blocked waste logistics and swallowed up the recycling budget of many parks.
\"We must be a clear example of sustainable development,\" Jarvis wrote . \".
\"When life is taken into account --
On the basis of circulation, the use of disposable plastic bottles has a significant impact on the environment compared to the use of local tap water and refillable bottles.
He wrote: \"The impact has been amplified in remote parks that pay extra for garbage removal and waste disposal.
In an interview, Sean Norton, head of sustainability operations and climate change at Park Authority, said: \"We are starting to realize that we are in the ocean of a plastic bottle.
The trash cans in some parks are overflowing.
\"Parks that want to cancel the sale of bottled water need to look at the potential savings in the cost of recycling and the cost of purchasing and installing supplementary water stations.
The park needs rich signs to tell visitors where to refill the bottles.
And the bottle is not banned, visitors can still bring their own.
Today, about 20 parks have announced water sales, including some of the country\'s most popular tourist attractions: Grand Canyon, Canyon, arch, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Park. And Mount Rushmore.
Park officials said the figure could be higher because the park does not need to notify the headquarters when changing the preferential policies.
Zionist National Park
The gas station has a \"success story of sustainability,\" which says on its website that the Park has canceled the sale of 60,000 bottles of water per year, \"equivalent to 5,000 pounds of the plastic does not enter the waste stream.
But Jarvis acknowledged that there was a risk of the policy of \"using sugary drinks as a major alternative to bottled water.
\"For some visitors, even reusable water bottles with reasonable prices may be out of reach, especially those with large families,\" he wrote . \".
This is the basis for public relations activities in the bottled water industry: The park is against their commitment to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
IBWAwrote wrote to Jarvis in April claiming that the reduction in bottled water sales could \"adversely affect public health and safety\", encouraging visitors to replace \"clean, healthy bottled water\" with \"less healthy drinks \".
Records show that since 2011, the association has spent about $510,000 lobbying members of Congress to make national parks one of the top lobbying targets this year.
At a Park Service budget hearing this spring, House Republicans questioned Jarvis about the bottled water policy.
He noted that there is no ban on bottled water from tourists in the park.
The industry has moved to legislative action in recent weeks to block restrictions on water sales, finding an ally on Capitol Hill to add the last
Last week the House made minor amendments to the government appropriations bill.
The measure prohibits the Park Service from using taxpayers\' money to remove disposable plastic bottles in the park.
\"Families without expensive camping equipment and experienced hikers and climbers will be surprised to find that they cannot buy a bottle of water for their children in one of our national parks, \"representative. Keith Rothfus (R-Pa. )
Introducing the legislation in the house, he said that the legislation was put on hold while lawmakers suspended the work of the appropriation bill to debate their differences on the flag of the Confederacy.
\"The temperature of the Grand Canyon will reach 100 degrees this week.
Tourists who may have forgotten or have run out of water may be at risk of dehydration.
There are several bottled water producers in Pennsylvania.
According to the Bottled Water Association, the industry brought $5.
5 billion, the economy is 6,800 people per year.
As a federal agency, the park authority is in a delicate position.
It cannot directly lobby for or oppose the Rothfus amendment.
\"We have not taken a stand on this legislation,\" said Jeremy Khan, a legislative affairs expert at the park authority . \".
But Ms Park\'s supporters say the bill shows the impact of an industry worried about loss of profits.
\"There is no reason for this bill to come out of the left wing,\" said David Nimkin, senior regional director for the southwest region of the advocacy group National Park Protection Association.
Nimkin says the bottled water policy is a \"reasonable and appropriate initiative for the Park Service to help tourists recognize that water is critical.
He noted that by supplying water stations to replenish bottles, the park authority \"encourages visitors to replenish water free of charge \".
Alice Cretz contributed to the story.