Creston bottling plant gets judicial review

Today in Helena, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley will hear a case brought by a Flathead Valley advocacy group regarding the Montana Artesian Water Co.’s bottling plant in Creston — a facility that has been the focal point for environmental controversy off and on for the past three years.

The case, spearheaded by Water for Flathead’s Future, is contesting Montana Artesian’s water permits granted by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The permits, originally granted at the start of 2018, allow the facility to withdraw more than 700 acre-feet, or about 225 million gallons of water, per year.

But the decision struck a chord of opposition among the community and local advocacy groups.

Following the permit approval, Water for Flathead’s Future’s attorneys claimed the state department’s “administrative findings, inferences, legal conclusion and decision of the Final Order [to grant the permit] are in violation of the Montana Constitution and the Montana Water Use Act.”

In a press release, the advocacy group addressed the allegations further, describing the state department’s failures to provide a proper evaluation of the plant’s potential environmental impact, as a “game of charades.”

“This has been a long time coming,” said Steve Moore, chairman of Water for Flathead’s Future. “We hope that the judge recognizes our Montana resources are to be used by the greater community and its residents.”

According to Moore, Water for Flathead’s Future and other organizations in Flathead Valley have worked tirelessly to compile reports and documents for today’s hearing.

“It’s all right there in the testimony,” Moore said. “It’s refreshing to get a judicial review, which is where they are more inclined to look at the hard facts.”

While Moore said the hearing is an important step for the group’s “uphill battle” against Montana Artesian Water Co., he said there is a lot left to accomplish in the fight against bottling facilities in Flathead County.

The hearing comes about six months after Flathead County voted in favor of a ballot initiative that deemed the bottling facility site as part of the Egan Slough Planning and Zoning District.

But only months after the ballot initiative passed by a wide margin, the bottling plant resumed its operations, leading one Creston nonprofit, Egan Slough Community, sue Montana Artesian Water Co. and multiple departments in Flathead County, including the Planning and Zoning Department, for allowing the plant to operate despite its unclear status as a “non-conforming structure” — a label that determines whether or not bottling operations can proceed.

Reporter Kia Gardner may be reached at 758-4439 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com.