Title

"this just in" piece on two battles over the private use of public water in Main

Authors

Lance Tapley

Source

Portland Phoenix

Date

6-4-2004

Pages

4

Abstract

"this just in" piece on two battles over the private use of public water in Maine. Stow resident James Wilfong, a former Democratic legislator, is proposing a bill to establish a state tax on groundwater if it is extracted for the purpose of being bottled. He estimates the tax could bring in $100 million annually. Tom Brennan, spokesman for Poland Spring Water Co., said the tax would impact jobs in the state. Poland Spring, a subsidiary of Nestle S.A., pumps about 400 million gallons a year for free from Maine aquifers and then sells the water in bottles around the country. Nestle is already engaged in another battle in Pierce Pond Township, where Poland Spring wants to remove 80 million gallons of water a year from two wells. Jonathan Carter and other local activists oppose the $1.4 million project.

Subjects

Bottled water, Poland Spring Bottling Co, Taxation, Carter, Jonathan, Wilfong, Jim

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