DENMARK — The public hearing on Poland Spring’s water extraction permit, which opened Aug. 11 and continued Aug. 18 and Sept. 8, has been extended to Sept. 23.
At the August hearings, several residents urged the Select Board to reject Poland Spring’s request to renew its water extraction permit, raising concerns about Long Pond, groundwater supplies and private wells, and calling for more scrutiny on extraction alarms and alerts.
Others asked the town to require an independent third party to verify groundwater and well levels.
Poland Spring is seeking a five‑year renewal to continue withdrawing water from the Cold Spring site in Denmark.
The town adopted local water extraction regulations in 2005 that exceeded the state’s groundwater regulations, including measures to protect groundwater reserves.
Town officials have since recorded and reported extraction amounts against rain and snowfall, although only data since 2015 is posted on the town’s website. The rest of the data is believed to be in the town’s archives, but not readily accessible to the public.
In December 2025, residents unanimously voted to expand the town’s authority over Poland Spring and other large-scale water extraction from local aquifers, giving the town power to reduce or halt pumping when aquifer levels fall below certain thresholds.
Under local regulations, the town may require Poland Spring to draft an action plan if average water levels fall below “alert” status. The town nearly reached that point in March, when the Palmer Drought Index showed severe drought conditions in Maine, and a March 13 monitoring report found water levels below standby alert thresholds in Denmark.
In a March 19 letter, Town Manager Betty LeGoff told Poland Spring that if groundwater levels remained below alert status March 20, the town would request an action plan to mitigate conditions.
Heavy rain ultimately made that unnecessary, but concerns about low water levels resurfaced during the August hearings.
Several residents argued the town lacks enough information to determine how continued pumping could affect Long Pond, nearby groundwater and private wells, especially during drought.
The Aug. 11 hearing was scheduled to take public comments on the permit application, but it ran long and was continued to Aug. 18. At that session, many residents questioned whether current monitoring and assessments provide an adequate picture of the aquifer. Others repeated a long‑standing call for financial compensation for extraction, drawing applause, with one resident suggesting that even a $1‑per‑gallon charge could bring more than $1 million to the town annually.
The company pays $34,000 in property taxes to the town.
Mark DuBois, natural resource manager for Poland Spring, acknowledged during the Aug. 18 hearing that the company could do more to make its monitoring visible to the public, including at benchmarks around Long Pond.
He also said the bottler had already reduced its withdrawals during the recent drought, at times operating at less than one‑third of its permitted withdrawal amount.
Under the town’s water extraction ordinance, the company is allowed to take up to 432,000 gallons per day — or 105.1 million gallons per year.
In 2025, Poland Spring withdrew 82.74 million gallons, with the largest monthly total — 7.98 million gallons — in October.
Last year, 32.11 inches of rainfall was measured at the Eastern Slopes Regional Airport, compared with an average of 46.91 inches recorded between 1991 and 2020 at the same location.
The precipitation recorded at Cold Spring was slightly lower, at 31.42 inches last year.
According to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, 42 inches of rainfall is equivalent to 24 trillion gallons of water, half of which — about 12 trillion gallons — runs off the landscape into streams and rivers.
At the end of the Aug. 18 session, the hearing was continued to Sept. 8 to give the town’s geologist and Poland Spring time to respond to questions raised earlier.
The bottler later asked for additional time to review and prepare responses, noting that many of the questions involved detailed technical information.
The Select Board agreed to the extension this week, and the hearing has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the Town Office.
Board members said the additional time will strengthen the town’s permit review process and provide the public with more thorough information.
The continuation of the hearing will not reopen a period for new public comment or questions and is intended only to address questions already raised.
LeGoff said Thursday the board may then discuss the application, with written findings scheduled to be issued between Oct. 14 and 21.
For more information on extraction reports and other documents, see: Water Extraction | Town of Denmark.
To view Poland Spring’s permit renewal documents, go to: 2026 Blue Triton Permit Renewal Public File.