NOT REASSURED AT ALL!!!!!!
This letter is in response to the recent newspaper ads being run by Montana Artesian Water
Company (MAWC) to assure the public that the proposed industrial water-bottling factory is not
a big deal and that we are all over-reacting. Wow, if I didn’t know any better, I might be sucked
in by this pathetic attempt to gain my support. However, I DO know better and am going to shed
a little more light on the subject.
In MAWC’s application for a water right from DNRC, the owner requests approval for 450
gallons per minute for the purpose of bottling 140,000 bottles PER HOUR from his factory. (In
his ad he states usage at only 25 GPM. Hmmmmm, that’s a huge discrepancy.) His application
states that pumping will be underway 24 hours per day, seven days a week, all year long. (the
ad states only 10 hours per day, 6 days a week) These are all HIS numbers, not mine.
Throughout the application, mention is repeatedly made about “full build out.” This simply
means that although he may be starting with only one building and relatively small production,
his INTENT is to ramp it up and eventually use the full amount of water requested to produce
1.2 BILLION 20oz. bottles per year. And if he is granted this water right, he can then sell it to
the highest bidder. This could be ANYBODY.
It is suspect, to say the least, that MAWC would attempt to persuade people to consider forming
an opinion about this venture using such minimal numbers. Neglecting to state the planned
expansion is sneaky and does not reflect well on MAWC. His claim to use only 3 trucks per day
is almost laughable. Maybe for the FIRST day, but soon enough, it would be impossible to
transport the sheer volume of product without at least 80-100 semi-trucks per day.
In closing, I urge everyone to hold fast in their opposition to this project. Our aquifer is far too
precious to us, and future generations, to allow this senseless and frivolous exploitation of it.
Sheila (Last name withheld)
I could not agree more....the constant flip-flopping on numbers that ARE IN BLACK AND WHITE IN HIS PERMIT APLLICATION is so very pathetic. I think he may not realize that we can READ UP HERE IN MONTANA! I believe he underestimated our love of the Flathead, so he began to try and make himself and MAWC appear to be a small mom and pop endeavor! That small FIRST metal building is the pinky toe of the beast to come ....he clearly states in the permit that he wants to ramp up to TWENTY of the bottling machines which rinse, fill and cap 7,000 bottles each hour...I don't think he realized we can do math as well! Having been sneaky from the beginning, by trying to quietly breeze throuh the processes, he was caught and has been back-peddling ever since to convince us this is all NO BIG DEAL....well it IS a HUGE deal....compare his numbers to other existing water bottling factories and you can see this is gargantuan by comparison....we gotta hang in there TOGETHER!
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