FRYEBURG – More than 50 people attended an elderly Fryeburg man’s protest on Saturday against Poland Spring’s withdrawal of millions of gallons of water from the town’s aquifer.

The protest was marred by two lukewarm confrontations between Howard K. Dearborn, 89, and two Poland Spring officials who quietly but purposely crashed the event, only to get booted out by Dearborn.

Although Dearborn offered $10 to the first 50 people who joined him in pouring Poland Spring water into the pond, most donated their ten-spots to a group of East Fryeburg residents who are fighting the company’s proposals to build a bottling plant and truck-loading facility in Fryeburg.

Many attendees, of varying ages, participated just to protest, but several helped Dearborn conduct his version of the Boston Tea Party.

Standing on a wooden footbridge adjacent to the local business owner’s house overlooking the pond, they poured several bottles of Poland Spring water into an inlet draining into Lovewell Pond.

“It felt good, especially since when I open my faucet, I get the water right back,” Scot Montgomery of Fryeburg said.

According to Dearborn, water in the Fryeburg aquifer flows into Lovewell Pond through many small springs. Pond water then flows into the Saco River through a natural channel.

Dearborn said he was pleased that so many participated in his symbolic rejection of Poland Spring, a subsidiary of Nestle Waters North America Inc.

According to Dearborn, ever since Poland Spring began withdrawing water from the aquifer, natural springs that feed the pond have gone dry.

Additionally, he says the water removal has changed the pond’s natural ecology and purity of its water by allowing an increased phosphorous load to spur plant growth on the pond’s bottom. That’s why he’s fighting back.

“Howard once said to me a year ago on this, ‘I don’t want to leave this world without knowing Lovewell Pond is safe,'” protester Jim Wilfong of Stow said. “That’s his motivation. He cares about the ecology of the pond.”

While people socialized before “The Big Pour,” Poland Spring environmental manager Ron Dyer of Poland and Elizabeth Swain breached the crowd.

“I didn’t want (Dearborn) to think we were sneaking in. We wanted to be clear,” Dyer said.

Swain is president of Barton and Gingold of Portland, the environmental and public policy management firm that represents Poland Spring.

They were met by a few hecklers.

When he spotted Dyer, who was wearing a green Poland Spring jacket, Dearborn quickly braced him.

“We’re not here to discus your problems,” Dearborn told him.

“Let’s let science solve this,” Swain shot back.

While the men and Swain jousted verbally, Dearborn reached out an arm and grasped Dyer’s left shoulder with a gloved hand, removed it, then put both hands on Dyer’s shoulders and gently shook them. He then walked away.

Afterward, Dyer said he didn’t expect to be confronted. He was only there to argue his employer’s side of the Lovewell Pond/Fryeburg aquifer issue.

“It broke my heart to see water being dumped out,” Dyer said.

Everything the company has reviewed, he added, tells them that the lake is just going through its life cycle of natural succession from lake to pond, pond to marsh, marsh to meadow and meadow to dry land.

Lakes in Maine also get into trouble with increased lake fertilization through nonpoint-source erosion, which boosts a lake’s biological production, Dyer said.

“People have strong opinions, but we’re pretty calm about this. It’s really a science question, and we want to look at it deeper,” he added.

However, he never got to elaborate. At 1:15 p.m., Dearborn returned.

“I think you ought to leave. No counter-talks. Leave before I get mad,” Dearborn said, then watched Dyer quiet a rising outburst from Swain as they headed for their car.

Afterward, Dearborn said to friends, “I was very nice. I didn’t hit him.”