MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – In response to a proposal for a water bottling plant in town, East Montpelier voters will be asked whether to ban withdrawing large amounts of groundwater while legislators are considering a bill to protect the state’s underground aquifers.

Supporters of the proposed moratorium in East Montpelier, who have collected the 200 signatures necessary to get it on the ballot, hope that if it’s approved it will protect the community’s groundwater until legislation passes.

But Tom Brazier, the project manager for the Montpelier Spring Water Co. proposal, says he doesn’t think the ban or legislation will be binding because state laws already exist on groundwater use.

“Whoever is proposing this bill is not really looking at the laws. There are already all kinds of laws on the books to protect groundwater,” Brazier said. “The state will make sure that groundwater is protected.”

The main issue is whether water in underground aquifers should be considered a “public trust,” owned by all Vermonters, and classified as a shared resource like lakes, streams and rivers.

Supporters of the legislation say Vermont is behind many states in groundwater protection.

“You don’t have to look too far in New England to find better groundwater protection models. New Hampshire does define groundwater as a public trust resource,” said Professor Patrick Parenteau of Vermont Law School and senior counsel of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic. “They have a far more comprehensive groundwater protection law.”

Last year Maine enacted a bill to increase scrutiny and apply more uniform regulations for commercial water extractions. The legislation was passed following an initiative campaign to impose a 20 cent-per-gallon tax on water drawn from Maine aquifers.

Nestle Waters North America Inc., which sells water drawn and bottled in Maine, objected to the proposal, which never went to a public vote.

Patenteau said since it would take a lawsuit to decide if groundwater was in the public trust in Vermont, he it makes senses to pass a law to make it clear.

The bill being worked on by Senate Natural Resources Committee would toughen groundwater regulations.

“There has been a lot of discussion about whether declaring groundwater a public trust will lead to more lawsuits,” said committee Chairwoman Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden. “But … the point of the legislation is to protect a very important resource for the state. The first step is to say it is a public trust and that we want to save it.”

But the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and Gov. Jim Douglas don’t support it. Agency attorney Warren Coleman says the bill goes too far and says the language in the public trust doctrine is too vague.

“It is unclear what it is ultimately designed to do or what purpose it serves,” he said.

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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/

AP-ES-02-25-08 1100EST

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