BIG RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – A judge on Tuesday ordered the company that produces Ice Mountain bottled water to stop drawing water from wells in a Michigan county, saying the operation has damaged the environment.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by environmentalists who said the company’s water-bottling operation has depleted neighboring lakes, streams and wetlands.

Ice Mountain is one of the most popular brands of bottled water in the Midwest. Its parent company is Nestle Waters North America, the maker of brands such as Poland Spring, Arrowhead and Deer Park.

The company operates four wells in Mecosta County, in western Michigan, and pumps the water to its nearby bottling plant.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s water division had granted a permit allowing Ice Mountain’s water-bottling plant to withdraw up to 400 gallons per minute, or 576,000 gallons per day.

Since production started, the plant’s average pumping rate has been around 200 to 250 gallons per minute, company spokeswoman Deborah Wudyka has said.

But Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Root said that is still too much.

“I am unable to find that a specific pumping rate lower than 400 gallons per minute, or any other rate to date, will reduce the effects and impact to a level that is not harmful,” Root wrote.

Ice Mountain Spring Water spokeswoman Deborah Muchmore called the ruling unwarranted and “quite extreme.” She said the company will appeal.

Michael Haines, an attorney for parent Nestle Waters, based in Greenwich, Conn., said the court “was misled by plaintiffs’ predictions of stream and wetland level declines” which he said have been disproven.

Terry Swier, a founder of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, said Root’s decision established an important precedent.

“This sets the stage for another big piece of the puzzle and that is getting water legislation in Michigan – some strong water legislation,” she said.

The debate over the water withdrawals nearly turned violent in September. Ice Mountain workers making a routine check of a pumping station discovered a broken glass-block window and found unexploded, homemade firebombs. The radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility. The FBI is investigating.

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On the Net:

Nestle Waters North America Inc.: http://www.nestle-watersna.com/

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation: http://www.savemiwater.org

AP-ES-11-25-03 1940EST