Residents of Shapleigh have voted to prohibit companies including Poland Spring from extracting or selling the town’s water.
On Saturday, residents adopted the ban, drafted by citizens group Protecting Our Water and Wildlife Resources, at a special town meeting, despite the Board of Selectmen’s opposition to the measure, the Portland Press Herald reported. The board favors regulations on drawing water that will be on the warrant for a regular town meeting on March 14. Residents in September adopted a six-month moratorium on water testing, ahead of Poland Spring’s plans to set up a pumping operation. The planning board used the time to develop policies governing the extraction of town water, but POWWR urged a ban on all major water extraction operations.
Mark Dubois, natural resource manager for Poland Spring, which employs 400 people in York County, said he was disappointed by Saturday’s vote, the paper reported. The company sought to draw water from Shapleigh in 2011 or 2012, he said.
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