LETTER: Water bottling plant should not be allowed

I have lived in Creston for several years. It has recently come to my attention that Montana Artesian Water Company wants to open and operate a water bottling plant in the Creston area. I find this very disturbing. I chose to live in Montana because of its healthy, nature-rich environment, and now the powers that be are willing to allow this environment to be at risk of air pollution from hundreds of large trucks on the road, water pollution by the dumping of 35,000 gallons of “waste water” into Flathead Lake, and lessening the quality of life for many citizens of the community through restrictions in well capacity and the dust stirred by the aforementioned vehicles (approximately 200 pounds of dust stirred each day on the dirt roads in the dry season.)

I am sure that many of the surrounding communities, such as Bigfork and Polson, would take great exception to having these vehicles driving through their towns constantly, disrupting the very tourists that are their lifeblood. At 100 trucks a day, that is a lot of excess traffic in already congested towns. While a water-bottling plant doesn’t sound like such a big deal when taken at surface value, when you consider the damage it can potentially do to the beauty that is the Flathead Valley of Montana, and the damage it will do to the tourist seasons that are a big part of our economy, I am sure you will agree that the answer has to be a resounding “NO.”

On a much more personal note, I live in the foothills and out of necessity, am on a well. Many of my neighbors have large amounts of livestock, and substantial wheat and grain fields. I know our well is already at 300 feet, and now we are hearing that if this company is allowed to come in and start taking our water out of our resources, at an estimated 231 million gallons a year, our wells are in danger of going dry or not being able to pump near the quantity they can now. Who is going to pay to have our wells sunk deeper? Who is going to guarantee we have ready access to the same amount of water we have now?

Please, do not allow this travesty to take place. Think of the citizens of Flathead Valley — think of the citizens of Creston. We deserve the same quality of life, the same property values, the same opportunity for happiness we had when we moved here. Please, stop this potential travesty. —Tammy White, Creston