Issues and Appeals

noreply@blogger.com (Save Our Groundwater) — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:50:00 +0000

Issues

Save Our Groundwater formed in 2001 in response to a large groundwater withdrawal application from a bottled water company called USA Springs, Inc. In 2001, the company had applied for a permit to take more than 400,000 gallons/day of water from an aquifer underlying an approximately 100-acre site located along U.S. Route 4 in the southern New Hampshire rural municipalities of Nottingham and Barrington.

USA Springs, Inc. has three affiliates:
• Garrison Place Real Estate Investment Trust (which owns the company's site);
• Just Cause Realty Trust (which owns the western adjacent site);
• and the Sweet Review Realty Trust (which owns adjacent land).
The owner of USA Springs, Inc., Mr. Francesco Rotondo, is also the sole trustee of the three trusts.

In its application and public hearings, the company stated that it intends to export the bottled water.

New Hampshire has a Large Groundwater Protection Act, RSA 485-C which governs all groundwater withdrawals more than 57, 600 gallons/day.

Since 2001 Save Our Groundwater members have consistently asked:

--Who "owns" a community's water supply? If water is held in the public trust, what does that mean? How are we defining "reasonable use?" Is having a profit need enough of a public interest to take a community's water?

--What happens to the health of communities and ecosystems that depend on groundwater supplies when the water is pumped out and taken away from the watershed?

--Does a private company have the right to profit from removing a community's water supply?

--What happens to the property values of residences and businesses located with the state-defined "zone of influence" potentially impacted by large groundwater withdrawals?

--Is a state conditional groundwater withdrawal permit that provides responses for specified worst case scenarios adequate protection for the essential water needs of communities and ecosystems when compared with a precautionary approach of "first do no harm" until the science is better understood?

--When bottled water is sold to other countries, do international trade agreements apply? If they do, what are the impacts of these agreements on the state's ability to enforce a permit?

Since this case began in 2001, it has involved many state agencies and local boards:
• New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau
• New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) Wetlands Bureau
• New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) Waste Management Bureau
• New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT)
• New Hampshire Attorney General's Office
• Town of Barrington
- Board of Selectmen
- Conservation Commission
• Town of Nottingham
- Board of Selectmen
- Planning Board
- Zoning Board of Adjustments

DES maintains an overview of documents associated with the Large Groundwater Withdrawal permitting process in the USA Springs, Inc. case (this is only one of the state permits involved).
The state originally denied the company's permit application twice in 2003 before approving a conditional permit in 2004.

Appeals

Save Our Groundwater appealed the July 2004 DES decision to grant USA Springs, Inc. a water withdrawal permit to the New Hampshire Supreme Court with the assistance of appellate attorney Joshua L. Gordon. To read our appeal on his website, scroll down to New Hampshire cases, Appeal of Save Our Groundwater.

We have also had appeals to the New Hampshire Water Council (the oversight body for DES large groundwater permitting), the New Hampshire Wetlands Council (for wetlands-related issues), and most recently, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT). The Towns of Nottingham and Barrington have also had appeals with the two DES councils and even USA Springs, Inc. The DOT does not post appeals to its website.

Read the Water Council Appeals:

Save Our Groundwater - Docket No. 05-21 WC
Save Our Groundwater - Docket No. 04-17 WC
Town of Nottingham - Docket No. 05-22 WC
Town of Nottingham Selectmen Appeal - Docket No. 04-15 WC
Town of Nottingham Selectmen Appeal - Docket No. 04-01 WC
Town of Barrington Appeal - Docket No. 04-02 WC
USA Springs, Inc. Appeal - Docket No. 03-12 WC

Read the Wetlands Council Appeals:

Save Our Groundwater - Docket No. 05-18 WtC
Town of Barrington Appeal - Docket No. 07-02 WtC
Town of Barrington Appeal - Docket No. 05-12 WtC
Towns of Nottingham & Barrington Appeal - Docket No. 03-11 WtC

Save Our Groundwater - Issues

Issues and Appeals