We are writing in response to the Daily Inter Lake guest opinion “Water company owners give their side of the story” in the August 7 issue.

Mr. Weaver, in his letter, asked that “everyone be honest and form your final opinions based on facts rather than emotions and ideologies.” The over 350 objectors to the water bottling plant, who attended the DEQ meeting at the Creston school gym appreciated his presence and his willingness to finally join the discussion. Had the time been granted, there were questions that each of the attendees to the meeting would have asked him, so we, the water use “detractors,” ask them now.

Is it true, as the DNRC permit implies, that the 710 acre feet of water allocated to your venture each year will be used solely for use in the production of bottled water? If true, will that amount of water yield a production of 1.2 billion 20-ounce bottles of water each year? If that yield is true, will that not net a volume of 3,287,671 bottles per day?  Will you carton those bottles in cases of 24 bottles each, and then palletize those cases for shipment?

If each pallet is loaded with 60 cases of packaged bottles, and each loaded pallet weighs just under one ton, would your annual yield not equal approximately 833,300 one-ton pallets? Understanding that the DOT imposes a load limit of 16 tons from Feb. 1 through June 30 on the 3.7 miles of gravel road that exits your plant, won’t that affect your shipment schedule?   

All of your neighbors assume you will limit those shipments to a 40-hour work week so as to maintain peace and tranquility in the evening and weekend hours. if so, can you tell us how many truck loads would be needed each day? Your information provided in your Sunday rebuttal indicated “ one or two trucks per day.” You went on to say that, if the business is successful, you would anticipate no more than four trucks per day at what you consider the full capacity of your “site.”

We would agree with that analysis since the “on site” building is not large enough for the level of production allowed in the permitting process. So, we, as a community, ask how large of a building is necessary to produce, warehouse and ship those 833,350 pallets?

If you do the math, the shipment load at full capacity is 400-plus pallets per day, or 25 truckloads per hour. If that is true, would it not then require one truck to depart and another one to return every 2 1/2 minutes, eight hours a day, five days a week? We, your neighbors would consider this to be a serious impact on our rural, farmland environment.

In your rebuttal you mentioned our “chatter.” You stated, “We have already made an agreement with the county to collaborate on dust control and road maintenance in anticipation of some nominal impact from truck traffic on the road.” We do appreciate that, with your CURRENT plans, you expect no more than one or two trucks per day. That we agree is true. What is of greater concern are the FUTURE plans.  

To what size will your “on site” building have to be expanded to accommodate what your permits will allow? Will you sell your water rights to a bottling company that, in turn, may have no respect for OUR rural community, OUR water, and OUR water rights? Who will that new owner be? Could it be Nestle, or Coca-Cola?

We, your neighbors, we chatter boxes out here, have been greatly disturbed by the thought of our water table going down, or the thought of drilling a new well, or seeing our land values plummet to 50 percent of their original value. We, your neighbors, are simply using our rights as property owners to question the possible industrialization of the Egan Slough area by the development of a water-bottling plant on that scale, or any scale.  

We, your neighbors, abhor the likelihood of a water bottling plant that could ultimately be larger than a super Walmart and Costco building combined. We, your chatterbox neighbors, simply ask... WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHEN and especially, WHY?

The McGunagles are Kalispell area residents.