KINGFIELD – The Flower Farm on Route 27 south of downtown Kingfield has been eyed for a water bottling plant, according to Tom Brennan, natural resources manager for Nestle Waters North America, the parent company for Poland Spring Bottling Co.
Brennan verified Friday that the company has taken an option on purchasing the farm and nearby land, about 200 acres in all, if all other factors appear positive for a water bottling facility there.
They have also optioned several homes and forested land along West Kingfield Road, northwest of downtown, also about 200 acres where numerous springs exist. The company hopes to be able to pump water from the springs directly to a water bottling facility on the other side of town.
They won’t know until the fall if the aquifer, is adequate – it needs to meet their chemical profile for taste and production capabilities. But “there are no deal-killers yet,” said Mark Dubois, a hydrogeologist with Poland Spring who has been monitoring the aquifer.
The company has been monitoring the water source since early spring for recharge rates and other criteria. According to Dubois, they’ll be at it until September or October before they will be able to make a determination.
The optioned land where the pipeline might run is sandwiched between Freeman Ridge and Route 27 with wetlands next to Route 142 across which the pipeline might run. Brennan said they are still in the process of understanding the engineering designs necessary to run a pipeline from West Kingfield Road to the Flower Farm site. Wetlands cannot be developed, he said.
They will also need to finalize sales of all the land on top of and surrounding the aquifer in order to protect the resource. He said most homeowners along West Kingfield Road have agreed to sell when the time comes.
“We’re most of the way there,” he said. They’re still negotiating with some, but there have been no negative conversations, he added.
“It’s a process,” he said. “There are a number of things that could happen that might cause this project not to work. That’s why we’ve optioned the property to give ourselves time to go through the science.”
He said the land sales were optioned for about a year though he did not have the exact information readily available Friday. He would not divulge purchase prices or other details of the option agreements.
Kingfield residents and others interested in learning more about Poland Spring can take a field trip to their bottling plant in Hollis for a tour July 16. Buses will leave from the Herbert Grand Hotel at 8 a.m. For more information or to reserve a space, phone Annie at 774-2458.
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