ALBANY, N.H. – An activist speaking near Conway, N.H., on Wednesday attracted a small group of Fryeburg residents fighting a bottled water company.

Maude Barlow, author founder of the Blue Planet Project, spoke at the Tin Mountain Conservation Center. The talk was sponsored by the Maine Defending Water for Life Campaign and the Alliance for Democracy.

Barlow said the planet is facing ecological, human and democratic crises with water supplies. She said many humans do not have access to sanitary drinking water, and this has led to a resurgence in waterborne diseases.

Barlow said pollution of surface water is forcing the mining of groundwater, which is being taken faster than it can be replaced, and that other water resources are being destroyed, diminishing the planet’s water supplies. She charged private companies with forming a “global water cartel” in the extraction of groundwater resources.

“The private sector is moving in very, very fast,” she said.

Barlow said the bottled water industry pumps 60 billion gallons of water annually, uses tons of plastic that is usually not recycled, and emits greenhouse gases.

Fryeburg resident Emily Fletcher said many of the residents attending the discussion were from Western Maine Residents for Rural Living. The community organization opposes an effort by Nestle Waters North America Inc. to install a facility in Fryeburg for trucks to fill up with spring water from a Denmark aquifer.

“I think we just want to educate ourselves as much as we can,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher announced the recent resignation of the chairman of the Fryeburg Planning Board, whom she charged with acting in Nestle Waters’ interest rather than the town’s.

Another Fryeburg resident Scott Gamwell said he wasn’t sure how much of an environmental effect the proposed facility would have, but that he was open to any ideas the lecture would present.

“I’m here to listen and hear what they have to say,” he said.

Resident Hannah Warren said she has known of Barlow for four years and wanted to meet her.

“I’m here about water issues in general,” said Warren. “It’s a huge issue facing the state of Maine.”

Barlow congratulated the Fryeburg group, but said the community struggles were part of a global problem.

“There’s a much greater story here, and it’s who’s going to control the lifeblood of the world’s water,” she said.

The proposed $2.1 million facility in Fryeburg would be open 24-hours-a-day and fill a peak of 50 trucks per day. Residents have raised concerns that the project would increase noise and traffic in the area, and decrease property values.

Residents also charged that the facility would violate the town’s zoning ordinance, as it would be constructed in a residential zone despite being a commercial or industrial structure. Fryeburg Town Manager Phil Covelli said this issue drove the argument more than environmental concerns.

“It’s more of a zoning issue than a water-use issue,” Covelli said. “Certainly some of those people are interested in both aspects of it.”

Spokespeople for Nestle Waters and Poland Spring were unavailable for comment on Wednesday afternoon.