KINGFIELD – A representative from Poland Spring Bottling Co. told town officials Monday night that the company will not submit a permit application for a bottling plant until at least late fall.
The Maine-based company, a subsidiary of Nestle Waters of North America, has been considering Kingfield as a potential location for its next bottling plant for the past six months, when company geologists first verified the location of a large aquifer under the town.
Mark Dubois, a Poland Spring geologist, immediately made clear to the Planning Board and approximately 15 other residents that the company is still in the process of testing Kingfield’s water supply.
“I don’t want to take up too much of anyone’s time on a hot summer night,” Dubois said. He said he wanted to make clear Poland Springs’ commitment to “an open process here.”
Last time Dubois and Kingfield officials spoke, he said, Poland Springs was in the process of buying options on land in the area. Now, Dubois said, “most of that optioning has taken place,” and the next step for Poland Springs will be to complete exhaustive water quality and quantity testing on Kingfield’s aquifer.
Poland Spring officials expect that the testing, which is slated to begin sometime next week and to go on through this fall, will “find stable water levels under pumping conditions and recharging aquifers,” Dubois said.
Only after the testing has taken place can the company start putting together permit applications to the state DEP and to Kingfield’s Planning Board.
Dubois stressed the importance of open communication between the bottling company and the town, and asked that any Kingfield resident with concerns about the possible bottling plant call either himself or colleague Tom Brennan.
Planning Board Chairman David Guernsey, told the board that, according the lawyers and consultants he has spoken with, Kingfield has sufficient ordinances in place to protect its water supply. He also stressed the importance of open communication and suggested that Dubois and Brennan hold a number of pre-permit application meetings with the town to assure the permitting process goes as smoothly as possible.
“We’d be committed to several pre-application meetings,” Dubois said.
Dubois also suggested a field trip of sorts, during which concerned Kingfield residents would be bused down to the Poland Springs plant in Hollis to see it in operation.
“It’s hard to talk about a bottling plant when you don’t really know what it is,” Dubois said. He urged town officials to decide on a date for the trip to take place.
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