Nestle Waters Canada held a public meeting to ease concerns about its proposed acquisition of the Middlebrook Water Company well west of Elora, although residents may not be convinced.
“The purpose (of the meeting) was to make the public aware of the fact that this project is underway, that we are seeking a permit pumping test from the Ministry of the Environment,” said John Challinor, director of corporate affairs for Nestle Waters.
“We want them to understand what that means, we want them to understand our concerns and we want to hear their concerns.”
Those expecting a question and answer forum instead were greeted with a self-guided information tour through the next steps in Nestle’s process.
The event attracted over 100 people to the Elora Community Centre on Aug. 5 to browse displays and ask questions to a dozen Nestle experts on hand.
Nestle filed for a permit-to-take-water application for a pumping test with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) on July 16. Once the MOECC posts the test permit application, it will be open for public comment for 30 days.
Nestle hopes to conduct the pumping test this fall and if it meets the company’s requirements, it will proceed with an application to operate a supplementary well with a maximum extraction rate of 300 gallons of water per minute. If that application is approved, Nestle plans to purchase the five-acre property.
Members from both Friends of Elora Water and Wellington Water Watchers were at last week’s meeting to raise concerns about the Nestle proposal.
“Bottling water in our community has become a very heated issue, its very complicated and we need to present both sides of it,” said Karen Rathwell.
She said she is concerned with carbon monoxide emissions from the transportation of the water and plastic bottles that are not biodegradable and can leach chemicals into the water.
“We want to protect our water for generations, why are we giving it away to a handful of people to make a profit off of? And whose water is it? It’s everyone’s water,” Rathwell said.
Libby Carlaw, a member of Friends of Elora Water, added, “Our stance is that we need to stop the rush. We need to have a three-year moratorium on commercial permits to take water, basically bottled water and other high water use commercial operations, because we need the time to do the science.”
The Middlebrook well, now 15 years old, extends 109 metres below the surface, into deep bedrock. Nestle hopes to complete an aquifer test to see whether or not water on the site meets Nestle’s quality and quantity requirements.
During the 30-day testing period, water would be discharged into the Grand River, either directly or through Cascade Creek.
The well would be a supplementary to Nestle wells located in Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh, explained Challinor.
“We would use the well when our primary production well in Aberfolye has to be shut down for maintenance or is shut down in an emergency for some reason. So this well is not going to be used on a regular basis,” he said.
But opposition groups do not want the project to get to that stage.
“What we want is a three-year moratorium until we can have a water use master plan done for Centre Wellington so we know what our needs in the future are going to be and where those water sources are going to be,” said Donna McCaw, a member of Friends of Elora Water.
McCaw also raised concerns about the test itself.
“When they are going to do a pump test that water is going to go directly into the river and we need to know and be reassured that it’s safe to do that,” she said.
Challinor said the test is the best way to understand the quality and quantity of the water and the impacts of future pumping.
“The ministry is going to require us to answer the question, ‘what are the impacts in the community of this water draw?’” said Challinor.
“We are simply not going to operate a well in the township that impacts other people’s wells. That’s just not on. We don’t do that, we’ve never done that and we’re not about to start doing that.”
Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott attended the meeting after receiving a number of expressions of concerns from his constituents.
“I think its very important that the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change take their responsibility for issuing these permits very seriously and ensure that our ground water resources are there for future generations,” said Arnott.
Councillor Steven VanLeeuwen, who attended the meeting, said he has received concerns from residents. However, he said council has not come together to discuss the water permit.
Federal Wellington-Halton Hills NDP candidate Anne Gajerski-Cauley and Green Party candidate Brent Bouteiller were also in attendance.
As of press time the pumping test application was not posted to the ministry’s Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) registry at www.ebr.gov.on.ca.
