Letter: Maine should profit from water resources (March 20, 2009)
Imagine if someone offered to pay you for water that you weren’t using today and wouldn’t need in the future…
Imagine again if that same someone not only offered to pay you for the water, but also offered to provide your out-of-work neighbor a job…
And finally, imagine yet again if that same someone (as an added bonus), upgraded your community’s infrastructure and reduced your taxes…
Would you accept their offer ?
…Seems like a “no-brainer” to me.
So, I’m having a hard time swallowing the recent vote in Shapleigh and a previous vote in Kennebunk to throw away the possibility of Poland Spring doing more in York County.
Is it that the anti-bottled water activists have been able to misrepresent the facts so much, that they have caused fear, uncertainty and doubt about a company which has a long track record of environmental stewardship and civic responsibility in Maine? Are they angry because Poland Spring is owned by a larger, multinational corporation?
Well, so are our grocery stores, our paper mills and our gas stations.
Is it because the nay-sayers are afraid that Poland Spring will drain us of our ground water? Well, both the state of Maine and Poland Spring ground water studies provide scientific, fact-based data to support their claim of no-impact, responsible use of Maine’s water resource.
Maybe these folks are just angry because Poland Spring is profitable?
Well, it’s profitable businesses that drive our economy.
So what is there to fear? Fear is driving this country, this state in a downward economic spiral.
It’s time to break the cycle.
+ 400 jobs in York County
+ Millions of dollars invested
+ Millions more planned
Personally, I support a profitable company, with historic Maine roots that is willing invest in our community.
You should too.
Paul G. Tishkevich
Kennebunk
The town line for Newfield and Shapleigh runs through the Wildlife Refuge where Poland Spring wants to drill a well. I also know they were testing the aquifer in the town of Newfield, where they had no permits. They did have permits for Shapleigh. How can Poland Spring make that kind of mistake with all the GPS equipment available to them? You can’t tell me they didn’t know. When these trucks are fully loaded, they weigh more than 50 tons. I know 90% of the roads in Newfield and Shapleigh can't handle this kind of weight. There is a bridge on this road, if I remember correctly, is posted for no trucks over 20 tons. This is a road with a lot of curves in it and would need to be widened for these large trucks. Then there are a couple of camps down near the bridge. The road and bridge are in bad need of repairs. The bridge has washed out three times in two years. There are so many curves in this road that it would not take much to clip a vehicle coming the opposite direction. Clipping that vehicle could be a minor accident or could be a major accident. Remember these are very large trucks with triple axel trailers with 11,000 gallon tanks. These trucks require a lot of space when making any kind of turn or taking any kind of corner. I can think of three of those corners where there is no visibility going around them and those are narrow stretches of road. To clear out those corners, it could take a couple of years to dig out all the granite. I don’t think it should be the local taxpayer to fix this road or bridge because it is not like they will be getting any property tax money from Poland Spring. They could get stuck with a huge bill that may take them several years to pay. Unlike the state, the towns have to stay under LD1 every year and they can’t carry the debt from one year to the next and they won't see a drop of money until a drop of water is pumped out of the well. I also understand the town the well gets drilled upon would only get a small amount of money. You have to remember that this Wildlife Refuges’ aquifer is actually in both Newfield and Shapleigh and is separated by the town line. Neither Shapleigh or Newfield own any of the land in the Wildlife Refuge and that the state owns the property, bought using some federal funds. This means there will be no property taxes collected from this piece of property. Any water pumped out of this aquifer will be split three ways with the town, the State of Maine, and the Federal Government. Newfield and Shapleigh are getting the shaft on this because they both are responsible for this road. The camps, what are you going to do with them, force them out by eminent domain? Who is going to pay to widen the road and remove the granite? Who is going to pay to build up and widen the bridge? How do they know how much money will be collected from the well? How do they know if it will be enough to pay for the road and bridge repairs and the continued upkeep?
Peter Morrison
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