Locals brewin' for a water fight

Preliminary plans for a water bottling plant in Orland have dozens of area citizens boiling.

More than 30 concerned residents attended an information meeting Wednesday organized by the newly formed bottling plant opposition group Save Our Water Resources.

In June, Crystal Geyser Water Company of Calistoga presented plans for a sparking mineral water bottling plant in southern end of Orland at County roads N and 200. Opposition to the proposed plant sprang up almost immediately from area residents concerned about potential environmental impacts.

Opponents gathered on Monday at the Glenn County Farm Bureau in Orland to vent frustrations and gear-up for a fight regarding the proposed plant. No Crystal Geyser representatives attended.

"My main issue is having water leave the county," said John Thompkin, a potentially effected landowner.

Thompkin said he is unlikely to support locating a plant in Glenn County without "good assurances" that the plant would not negatively impact area residents.

"And they just don't have enough information at this point," Thompkin said.

Joanne Overton, SOWR's chairwoman, said opponents plan to flood city offices with a massive letter-writing campaign designed to pressure the city to require environmental study - which is not legally required - before construction begins.

"That would satisfy a lot of concerns people have," Overton said. "I think an Environmental Impact Study needs to be done before anything else happens."

Retired Glenn County judge Angus Saint-Evans, another potentially effected landowner, said residents need to educate themselves about the plant and said he had no faith in city officials protecting local interests.

"I think the city has been seduced and we need to know where they're getting their information," Saint-Evans said Monday. "We're critical of the city because we don't know what they've done."

Overton echoed those sentiments in a telephone interview Tuesday.

"This project went on behind closed doors for more than a year before we got wind of it in June," Overton said. "I'm sorry, but I just don't see anything good about this project."

Opponents plan to attend upcoming City Council and technical advisory committee meetings to voice their opposition.

"Glenn County survives on farming, this is all we have," Overton said, "and every drop of water is precious and we don't want to give it away for nothing."

For more information about the opposition group, contact Overton at 865-2731.

Contact Rob Parsons at 934-6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.