KINGFIELD – Roughly 80 residents attended a meeting with representatives from Poland Spring Water Co. on Tuesday to discuss possible plans for a bottling plant on West Kingfield Road.
Robert Barnes of the Kingfield Water District advised residents, “There is no proposal of any kind on the table.”
Hydrogeologists from the company said an aquifer that currently serves Kingfield’s municipal water district may be the treasure trove they have been hunting for. But, they cautioned, they won’t be sure until they have completed testing.
Tom Brennan, natural resource manager for Poland Spring, gave a presentation to explain the basics of the complicated science of hydrogeology.
He said the watershed of the Carrabassett River covers about 42,000 acres which, by his rough estimates, is capable of producing 48 billion gallons of water annually. He hopes future test wells will prove him right. If so, they will show the aquifer is more than sufficient to provide for the town’s needs and support a bottling plant.
Brennan cited several points he wished residents to consider:
• Roughly 200 new jobs if a bottling plant is built.
• A clean industry with an innocuous waste stream.
• A renewable resource.
• An increase in the town’s tax base.
• Aquifer protection – the company has a vested interest in keeping the aquifer’s water pure and clean.
“There are a lot of moving parts that have to be lined up,” he said. “But water comes first. We’re knocking on the door of Kingfield” to hear residents’ concerns, he added.
Homeowners who live on West Kingfield Road were concerned about a potential impact on their wells.
Brennan assured them that all nearby homeowners would be offered the opportunity to have their wells monitored by the company. Homes near Poland Spring’s plant in Hollis are provided monitoring systems, and quarterly readings are given to residents and the code enforcement officer. The same system would be used in Kingfield.
Trucking was another issue.
“There will be impacts,” Brennan said. “Trucking is something we can’t hide.”
But, he said, the company will try to minimize the impact of trucking and is “very sensitive to the town’s concerns.” If a plant is built, it will be on the south side of town so trucks will not be traveling through the downtown area.
Perry Ellsworth, the Rangeley town manager, said he has been working with Poland Spring on the possibility of a pumping station in Dallas Plantation, within Rangeley’s aquifer.
“We, in Rangeley, have found Poland Spring to be very easy to work with,” he said.
Kingfield Selectman John Dill said people he spoke with Wednesday were satisfied.
“I think people got their answers,” he said.
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