By MIKE FAHER
BAKERSVILLE — State regulators have denied a permit for a controversial bottled-water operation, saying the proposal would have a severe impact on local streams.
The plan by Cooper Springs Trout Hatchery had spurred vehement opposition from local residents, who argued against drilling a large well in a watershed that already is considered endangered.
Nonetheless, many believed that the state Department of Environmental Protection would side with Cooper Springs. So Monday’s announcement was a pleasant surprise for those who are battling further development in Laurel Hill Creek watershed.
“We’re extremely happy with the DEP’s decision,” said Scott Hoffman, president of Chestnut Ridge Trout Unlimited.
“Laurel Hill Creek has been under attack from various users withdrawing water,” Hoffman added. “We think that stream is and can be a great asset to the region, provided that it’s kept intact.”
Cooper Springs wanted to draw as much as 108,000 gallons per day from a well near Shafer Run, a tributary to Laurel Hill Creek. The water would have been sold to unidentified bottling companies.
Opponents argued that the watershed already is oversubscribed, with Laurel Hill Creek and Shafer Run sinking far too low during the drier summer months.
Earlier this year, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit ranked Laurel Hill watershed as one of the nation’s 10 most-endangered.
Residents also worried about truck traffic from an estimated 14 tanker trucks that would have visited the Cooper Springs site each day.
At a public meeting in late June, Cooper Springs consulting geologist Jeff Evers said testing had shown that the bottled-water operation would have only minor impacts on four private wells and no significant impact on Shafer Run.
But on Monday, DEP officials announced that further testing showed a “startling” 40-percent drop in Shafer Run stream flow.
“A 40-percent drop in stream flow would have a detrimental effect not only on Shafer Run, but also to the entire Laurel Hill Creek watershed,” said Ronald Schwartz, acting director of DEP’s southwest region.
Cooper Springs has 30 days to appeal the DEP decision to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
The company also could reapply for a permit.
However, DEP spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said changes would be necessary.
“For the department to consider a future application, there would have to be some demonstration that it would not in the future impact Shafer Run,” she said.
It is unclear what action, if any, the project’s administrators might take. Contacted Monday, Evers said he had not yet heard about the permit denial and needed further detail before responding.
If Cooper Springs tries again, the company likely would again meet stiff opposition.
Over the past few months, supervisors in Jefferson Township had expressed concerns about the bottled-water operation.
And officials in Somerset Borough, which draws much of its drinking water from the Laurel Hill area, had written a letter asking the state to deny the Cooper Springs permit “on the grounds it will decrease the base flow of water available within the Laurel Hill Creek.”
State Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar, R-Somerset, and state Sen. Richard Kasunic, a Democrat whose district covers most of Somerset County, jointly authored a June letter questioning the project’s merits and requesting that DEP deny the permit.
On Monday, Kasunic said the DEP’s decision was “based on sound scientific evidence.”
“It was proven what the folks out in that watershed were saying – that it would have a significant impact,” Kasunic said.
Concerned residents also had taken the battle to Harrisburg. Gary and Page Wetterburg authored a lengthy letter to a top DEP official earlier this month, saying state officials needed to take a closer look at the cumulative effect of water withdrawals in Laurel Hill Creek watershed.
Cooper Springs’ proposed well did not represent “a huge amount,” Gary Wetterburg said Monday.
“But it’s the principle. You can nickel and dime the watershed with smaller permits,” he said.
“You nickel and dime it, and then you lose track of the dollars.”
