Water-plant foes fill school gym

Opposition to a proposed water bottling plant continues to grow in Creston, where about 300 people crowded into the school gymnasium Monday night to push back against a draft discharge permit for the facility.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality in June issued the draft discharge permit to the Montana Artesian Water Co., which would allow the plant to discharge 65 gallons of treated wastewater per minute into a nearby tributary to the Flathead River.

Of that, up to 60 gallons would come from a thermal heating system and five gallons would be treated wastewater from rinsing out the plastic bottles, which the company plans to manufacture on-site.

More than 40 people took to the microphone during Monday’s public hearing to protest the draft permit and ask for a more thorough environmental review of the project.

Bob Storer of Bigfork asked the three agency representatives at the hearing to take a closer look at the potential environmental impacts of the proposed discharge and questioned the accuracy of water sampling methods.

“Don’t be mad at me if I don’t believe these state agencies are going to follow up on a problem,” Storer said.

Prior to issuing the draft permit, the department conducted an environmental assessment to evaluate different areas of possible degradation to both the natural and human environment. For each resource, the department found no significant impacts, ultimately determining that a more extensive environmental impact study would not be necessary.

The department’s draft permit evaluated expected changes to water quality criteria including temperature, dissolved oxygen and certain pollutants, finding that the discharges would not have a significant impact on any of them. That preliminary determination, however, fell short of putting many area residents at ease.

“If you have to rinse the bottles, that means there’s something in there you don’t want to consume,” Tom Tucker told the panel of state officials, drawing strong applause from the audience.

The only speaker to praise the department’s work was Lew Weaver, the Creston farmer behind Montana Artesian Water Co. and the owner of the land on which the plant would operate.

Weaver thanked the agency representatives for their work, then asked that the public trust the state to do its job.

“Our water will discharge no pollutants — I can assure you of that,” Weaver said. “I am sure they will make the right decision. I ask you to remember the facts, the facts of this project and not the emotions that are going on here, because there are a lot of emotions and a lot of mis-facts.”

Robin Robinson later referred to Weaver’s request to argue for an environmental impact statement on the discharge permit.

“I think it would be wise to stick with the facts,” she said. The problem is, we don’t have them.”

Since his plans to construct the plant first began trickling out, Weaver’s neighbors and other area residents established Water for Flathead’s Future, an group organized to fight against his bottling plant.

Dierdre Coit, the organization’s chairwoman, said the group has spent about $40,000 on attorneys to contest the discharge permit and a preliminary water right that would allow Weaver to bottle up to 191.6 million gallons of water per year from the aquifer and to withdraw a total of 231.5 million gallons per year.

“We can’t believe this is happening, when the government is supposed to protect you,” said Coit, whose farm is located less than 400 yards from the proposed plant site. “They’ve got to see that no one wants this.”

She said many members of the group share frustrations with the state permitting agencies, noting that the discharge permit cited the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s water rights permit, which is currently being contested by nearby residents.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and local environmental groups also have filed formal objections over the water rights permit, which is currently winding through the state’s objection process.

Department of Environmental Quality hearing officer Rainie DeVaney said the reference to the preliminary water right in the department’s draft permit was required by law.

“As part of the [Montana Environmental Policy Act] process, we’re required to consider any concurrent permitting actions,” DeVaney said at the end of the meeting. “At this point, we’re willing to consider all comments and requests.”

Members of Water for Flathead’s Future also have raised concerns that Weaver’s bottling plant could “open the flood gates” for additional such facilities. Multinational corporations including Coca-Cola, Nestle and Pepsi operate water bottling plants throughout the country, and members of her group worry that the cumulative impacts could be disastrous if they also moved into the area.

“They didn’t do anything about it in the beginning,” Coit said, referring to other communities where large-scale water bottling operations have become established. “All we’re trying to say is look before you leap.”

No local elected officials were present at the hearing, an absence noted by several people speaking out against the plant.

Department spokeswoman Lisa Peterson said after the hearing that regardless of the volume of public comments opposed to the plan, the agency’s task is to evaluate any new, pertinent information that could trigger a change to the permit or a broader environmental review.

“It’s going to be a process of seeing if there are any gaps, anything we missed or any data we didn’t have before,” she said. “It’s very data-based. It’s not a referendum.”

Ultimately, she added, the decision to conduct an environmental impact statement would need to be made by the department’s director.

The public comment period on the permit was recently extended by the agency to Aug. 15. Comments may be submitted by mail to: DEQ Water Protection Bureau, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901, or by email to DEQWPBPublicComments@mt.gov.

To view the draft discharge permit, environmental review and other documents, visit deq.mt.gov/Public/notices/WQnotices.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.