Proposed bottling plant focus of water-group meeting

Water for Flathead’s Future will hold an educational meeting on Wednesday to discuss a proposed water bottling facility near Creston.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Flathead High School auditorium.

Short video clips will be shown from communities throughout the United States that have had concerns about bottling facilities. Updates on the permitting process underway by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Natural Resources and Conservation for the proposed bottling plant also will be given, along with an update on the Flathead County commissioners’ rulings.

Montana Artesian Water Co., owned by Creston farmer Lew Weaver, plans to build a water bottling facility that about one mile from Egan Slough, southwest of Creston.

According to a preliminary water-rights permit issued Jan. 14, 2016, by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the company’s single well could withdraw from a deep underground aquifer up to 231.5 million gallons per year. Of that, it could bottle and sell up to 191.6 million gallons per year, the equivalent of 2 billion 12-ounce water bottles. The rest would be used for rinsing bottles and equipment and for on-site tap water.

Because objections were filed with the state regarding the water-rights permit, a validation process was undertaken and a hearing is scheduled May 23 before a hearing examiner designated by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Also pending is a wastewater discharge permit from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. As of last week, a spokeswoman for the state agency said that permit is still under review.

Water for Flathead’s Future, a grassroots organization that advocates sustainable use of surface and underground water resources, was formed in the wake of the proposed bottling plant. The organization has taken a vocal stand against the bottling plant.

“Any person or company that endangers the quality and availability of this most valuable resource by shipping large quantities of it away from the local area poses a threat to our livelihoods, our happiness, and our economy,” the organization’s website states. “We work to prevent this from happening by advocating land-use reform and denying permits for any such activities.”

To that end, a petition drive has been proposed to hold a special election that would allow residents throughout the county to vote on expanding the Egan Slough Zoning District. If validated by the County Attorney’s Office, the petition will need signatures from 16,778 registered voters to be put on an election ballot.

Late last year the county commissioners denied a petition to add 530 acres to the Egan Slough Zoning District, a tract of 1,150 acres of largely agricultural land near Creston. Egan Slough neighbors sued the county, asking the court to declare the commissioners’ decision unlawful and an abuse of discretion. The litigation is still pending.

The zoning district was created through citizen-initiated zoning in 2002 when farmers and other landowners rallied to preserve farmland in the neighborhood after a youth camp was proposed on 160 acres then owned by the Salvation Army. The church organization wanted to sell the property and have it developed as a youth camp, but neighbors worried the property was unprotected from future subdivision.

Prior to the county commissioners’ decision in November 2016 to deny the proposed zoning district expansion, Weaver’s attorney, John Dudis, told the commissioners during a public hearing that the proposal is an attempt to prohibit his client from continuing with plans to operate the bottling plant. He called the proposed district expansion an example of “reverse spot zoning” and an after-the-fact attempt to obstruct Weaver’s plans.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.