Poland Spring lobbies for Denmark water permit renewal

DENMARK, Maine — The Poland Spring company told Denmark selectmen Tuesday that 15 years of monitoring show its Cold Spring operation has had little or no adverse impact on the local aquifer, Beaver Brook or Long Pond as the company seeks a five-year renewal of its water extraction permit.

But the application was deemed incomplete after the town’s consulting engineer said more information is needed before a public hearing can be held. Poland Spring representatives said they will submit the revisions before the July 14 deadline.

The company is seeking to renew its permit to withdraw up to 105 million gallons of water annually from its Cold Spring site.

“We’re here in Denmark because of a really good aquifer,” said Poland Spring Natural Resources Manager Mark Dubois. “It covers the Beaver Brook drainage basin. It doesn’t cover over to Fryeburg, it doesn’t go to Brownfield.”

He said 10-15 percent of wells in Maine are dug too shallow, which is why they run dry in drought. He said the water level in the aquifer is so stable the water table moves up and down slower than a snail.

“The snail can run at about 460 feet per day,” said Dubois adding the aquifer’s water level moves 0.0144 feet per day vertically. “The snail is actually 32,000 times faster than groundwater movement at this site.”

Per Denmark’s 2024 Water Extraction Ordinance, a five-year renewal may be granted if selectmen find after a public hearing that the company has met performance standards and can continue doing so.

Hydrogeologist Matt Reynolds of Drumlin Environmental in Portland, Maine, said data collected since 2005 show weather patterns and not pumping are the primary factors affecting groundwater around the site.

He said groundwater levels have remained stable since pumping began in 2010, Beaver Brook has not been adversely affected, and Long Pond’s water level is controlled primarily by precipitation because groundwater beneath the southern end of the pond is lower than the pond itself. A layer of fine sand separates the bottom of the pond from the groundwater though some pond water “leaks” into the groundwater, said Reynolds. “It’s a pretty extensive network of monitoring that is has been monitored for the last well almost 20 years now,” he said.

Reynolds also pointed to the recent 2025-26 drought, saying spring flows continued while groundwater levels rebounded after precipitation returned in April and May. Poland Spring said it adjusted pumping during the drought to limit groundwater declines while remaining above established alert levels.

The company said it maintains an extensive monitoring network that includes monitoring wells, domestic wells, spring piezometers, staff gauges, Long Pond, Beaver Brook and precipitation measurements.

Town hydrogeologic consultant Rick Vandenberg of Credere Associates in Westbrook, Maine, and Portsmouth told theselectmen his review was limited to determining whether the application satisfies the ordinance’s submission requirements, not whether the permit should ultimately be approved.

He said the application still needs additional information before it can be considered complete, including revised maps, monthly withdrawal tables, more discussion of nearby aquifers and private wells, and additional information related to the ordinance’s alert and action levels.

“This is not a substantive review,” Vandenberg said. “This is simply a completeness review.”

Once the requested information is submitted, the selectmen are expected to revisit whether the application is complete at its July 14 meeting. If it is deemed complete, the ordinance requires the town to schedule a public hearing within 45 days, giving residents their first formal opportunity to comment on the proposal.

Although no public comments were taken Tuesday, opposition to the renewal has already begun to emerge. Community Water Justice, an advocacy group, urged residents in a Facebook post Monday to attend the meeting.

About 20 people attended and several of them were representatives of Poland Spring.

CWJ disputes Poland Spring’s assertion that pumping has not adversely affected Long Pond and questioned the company’s statements about reducing water withdrawals during the recent drought, citing extraction data it said showed increased pumping in Denmark between September 2024 and September 2025.

Reynolds said data shows otherwise.

“You basically have a steady water table, there’s no significant downward trend in that water table over time, and you can explain the slight variations if you just look at the different precipitation each year,” said Reynolds. “So this says to me that that the overall pumping withdrawal has not had any detrimental effect on the groundwater, right near the bore holes, and those are the most sensitive locations.”