The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Wells Rejects Ban on Water Extraction

May 20, 2009 - WELLS -- Voters here rejected a proposed ordinance Saturday that would have banned companies such as Poland Spring from extracting water from town aquifers.

The proposal also contained language explicitly denying corporations broad rights contained in the Maine and federal constitutions, and bestowing rights on ecosystems located in Wells.

The Wells vote is the first defeat in Maine for the Chambersburg, Pa.-based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, which promotes a "rights-based" approach for protecting ecosystems. Shapleigh and Newfield had adopted similar ordinances earlier this year.

About 650 residents squeezed into the Wells Elementary School gymnasium for the special town meeting vote.

The meeting was unruly. It had been scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. but was delayed a half-hour because of the long line of people waiting to get past the two election officials checking voting lists. Even after the vote was taken 40 minutes later, some people were still waiting in line.

The debate ended after seven people spoke, all but one of whom opposed the measure.

People voted by standing on either side of the room. Those voting "no" won by a large majority.

"Obviously, from what I'm seeing, this is the prevailing side," said moderator Merton Brown, pointing to the packed crowd on the right side of the room.

Cheers erupted. But the measure's supporters angrily protested, arguing that the meeting was chaotic and confusing and that debate was cut off before they had a chance to speak.

"They shut us right out," said Carol Simpson, a member of Save Our Water until she resigned on April 27. The group last November convinced voters to pass a 180-day moratorium on all water extraction activities.

"That's not democracy," said Betty Williams, another supporter.

Vocal people seemed to bully the moderator and manipulate how he ran the meeting, said Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Joan Mooney, who also supported the measure. She said it appeared that 100 to 200 people were still waiting in line when the vote was taken.

"It wasn't right. You could see it fall apart – all the confusion," she said. "I don't think it was a realistic vote."

She said she is not aware of any way to challenge the vote without an expensive lawsuit.

Several town officials, as well as business groups including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, opposed the measure.

Opponents mailed literature to Wells voters and bought radio spots and newspaper ads. They described the proposal as a radical document that would frighten away businesses and damage the town's tax base.

"This is a rush to oblivion, in my opinion," Ron Collins told the crowd. Collins is a Republican former legislator who represented Wells in the Maine House of Representatives.

Several lawyers wrote legal opinions stating that the ordinance would have been unconstitutional, said Robert Foley, a local insurance agent and member of the Rotary Club of Wells.

"It puts us in legal jeopardy," he said. "We are being asked for a vote on something that will change the town forever."

The proposal came about after the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District considered a plan to sell water to Poland Spring, the bottled-water company owned by Nestle Waters North America Inc.

A 30-year contract would have allowed Poland Spring to buy as much as 432,000 gallons of excess capacity daily for $900,000 a year. The district's trustees tabled the plan indefinitely last summer in response to public opposition.

The proposal that voters rejected Saturday asserted that ecosystems have rights – to exist, flourish and evolve naturally in town.

It also said that no corporation in the town would be recognized as a "person" under the United States or Maine constitutions, nor would it be "afforded the protections of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, or the Contracts Clause or Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, or similar provisions found within the Maine Constitution, within the Town of Wells."

By a vote of the town meeting, Gail Darrell, the community organizer in New England for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, was not allowed to speak.

Darrell has argued that regulatory schemes have failed to protect ecosystems. In an interview after the meeting, she said that 120 towns across the country have successfully adopted similar measures. She said she was frustrated that she wasn't allowed to defend the proposed ordinance from what she called unfair attacks.

"I think Wells is run by a well-oiled machine," she said.

Simpson said proponents of the measure made homemade signs and canvassed door to door. She said they were vastly outspent by the other side.

"How can little old ladies using their Social Security checks beat Nestle?" she asked.

A town committee is currently crafting an ordinance to regulate water extraction. Tom Brennan, a spokesman for Poland Spring, said the committee's work is based on hard data and science.

"We fully support strong ordinances," he said. "We will support them any way we can, and they can take whatever time they need to get it right."

Brennan said he was surprised by the large turnout at the town meeting and is pleased with the results. "The will of the voters of Wells was clear," he said.

By TOM BELL, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, May 17, 2009

Lakes:
Regions: Sanford


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News