NORTH NEW PORTLAND – Nearly 100 people turned out Wednesday night to discuss a spring water pumping station proposed for Pierce Pond and Spring Lake Townships.

Residents, officials and representatives of Nestle Waters North America Inc., the Land Use Regulation Commission and independent consultants attended the public meeting at Central Elementary School.

NWNA, the company that brings Poland Spring water to store shelves and office coolers, proposes to run between 20 to 40 tanker trucks a day up Long Falls Dam Road and back again to haul up to 320,000 gallons of water pulled from a drainage of Pierce Pond. It is seeking clearance to do so 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Representatives from Poland Spring assured residents that this most likely will not be the case. The company hopes to be able to limit the bulk of their truck traffic to Tuesdays and Wednesdays, though admittedly, truck traffic will increase along the road regardless.

Many residents living along the 15-mile proposed truck route expressed their dismay saying that their reasons for living where they do is for the peacefulness and beauty of the area that they say would be jeopardized by this project.

Luise Vaughan, a Long Falls Dam Road resident since 1989, apparently holding back tears, said that she moved from Greenwich, Conn., with her children to get away from the trucks, noise and traffic.

“You haven’t placed a value on my quality of life,” Vaughan said.

She was not alone in her worries about the issues associated with the proposed increase in truck traffic on the road that runs off Route 16 in North New Portland.

Richard Levesque of Lexington elicited applause from the crowd when he read a five-page letter.

“Many of us have chosen to live here, sacrificing better employment and income in exchange for a rite of passage to a healthier environment. Like many others, I have invested my life’s efforts into my home with its peaceful, easy and pleasant surroundings,” he said.

He urged LURC to “do Poland Spring a favor” and deny their permit.

“Blood will be shed,” he said referring to potential road kill that is already a problem with current traffic on the road.

Steve Swatling, Bigelow Preserve manager, said in an interview before the meeting, that he was not terribly concerned about the impact of the pumping station on the preserve. His initial concern was for the safety of campers by Big Eddy campground off the proposed trucking route but was assured by Poland Spring that the trucks would not be using that area at all.

In a telephone interview before the meeting Wednesday, Tom Brennan, natural resource manager for Poland Spring, said “We don’t want to be a burden to a community in which we operate,” a point he reiterated at the meeting.

“We want to contribute to the community, be a positive influence,” he went on.

He also said the company intends to form a traffic management committee with people who live along Long Falls Dam Road in addition to funding safety improvements along it including signs and guardrails.

“If we can identify something we can do, we will do it,” he said.

[email protected]