PIERCE POND TOWNSHIP – A citizens group’s appeal of a Land Use Regulation Commission permit for a water pumping station operated by Poland Spring Bottling Co. was dismissed in Somerset County Superior Court last week.
The case, filed against the commission by former gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Carter and Citizens for the Protection of Maine’s Groundwater, was heard Jan. 13.
Carter filed a five-page brief outlining seven arguments in an attempt to petition the court to revoke the commission’s permit for the pumping station in Pierce Pond and Spring Lake townships.
He asserted that, despite “repeated requests for public hearings and the submission of a petition with over 100 signatures, the commission refused to hold a public hearing.”
According to Carter, the commission also failed to adequately document sustainability, improperly concluded a nearby sludge site would not lead to contamination of the water, did not properly consider traffic impact of the project, failed to consider the impact on outdoor recreation, failed to adequately investigate alternatives and failed to consider the policy implications regarding the ownership of groundwater.
Justice Joseph Jabar found the commission was not required to hold a public hearing, consider the impact on outdoor recreation, or consider alternatives. He also felt the commission duly considered sustainability, water quality and traffic impact.
“The record contains a great deal of information and input from numerous state agencies,” wrote Jabar, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Human Service’s Drinking Water Program.
Of Carter’s assertions, Jabar found only one to have any merit – that of the question of groundwater ownership. However, the legal argument held no water.
“The plaintiff makes a compelling argument for the concept that Maine’s groundwater should be considered a natural resource belonging to the people of the state of Maine subject to control by the state of Maine. Until this law is changed by the common law or by the Maine Legislature, LURC is not required to consider the policy implications of their issuance of a permit,” he wrote.
Amy Mills of the state attorney general’s office, who represented the commission in the case, called the judge’s decision “thoughtful, thorough, rational” and supportive of LURC’s decision, which was “in accordance with statutory and regulatory rules they are required to consider.”
The commission’s director, Catherine Carroll, said Monday she was very pleased with the judge’s decision.
“It demonstrates commissioners are doing their job and using their authority appropriately,” she said.
In an interview Jan. 15, Carter said the state has the right to regulate water extraction so that it is done sustainably.
“Groundwater belongs to the people,” he said.
Carter is not alone in this opinion.
Rep. John Eder, a member of the Green Party from Portland, filed a bill several weeks ago to prohibit private ownership of all drinking water supplies in the state.
The bill states “all drinking water supplies in this state are public resources and may not be privately owned.” It was sent last week to the Natural Resources Committee. Eder said Monday the bill is broad but details will be worked out in committee.
“A billion people (worldwide) don’t have access to clean drinking water,” he said. “What I’d like to establish is a basis for regulating the withdrawal of water. I want us to be prepared. This is what we’ll be fighting over in the future. Maine could be the site of an epic struggle,” he said.
Chip Ahrens, an attorney who has represented Poland Spring for more than a decade, said groundwater is owned by the person who owns the land above it. There are regulations, too, that prohibit a landowner from adversely affecting any other landowner’s drinking water.
“Maine law is very clear about groundwater ownership,” he said.
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