STANWOOD, MI -- A citizens group which previously fought Nestle Waters in court to limit the company's groundwater extraction is pressuring the state regulators to hold public hearings around Michigan about Nestle's permit application to increase pumping capacity at an Osceola County production well.

At a press event held near the Nestle Ice Mountain water bottling plant on Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) argued the state needs to retool its policy governing water usage and that Nestle's groundwater pumping is an issue that merits greater public scrutiny.

The group wants the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to hold public hearings on the pending permit application in Evart, Detroit, Flint, Muskegon, Sault Ste. Marie and Traverse City. Presently, the DEQ is planning to hold one public hearing in Big Rapids that has yet to be scheduled.

The agency has received about 14,300 public comments on the application.

"This is not just an issue that affects a small town in Osceola County," said Jeff Ostahowski, MCWC vice president, prior to the press event. "It's an issue that affects the entire state and the future of the Great Lakes."

About 40 people attended the press conference, held in a carpool lot by the U.S. 131 exit on 8 Mile Road, about a mile west of the Ice Mountain plant, where the group had planned to set up on the roadside by the factory.

Nestle, which bottles Michigan groundwater under the Ice Mountain brand, is asking the DEQ to approve a large percent capacity increase on its White Pine Springs well No. 101 in Osceola Township near Evart. The well is located about 1,700 feet north of the headwaters of Chippewa Creek and about two miles east of Twin Creek; both coldwater trout stream tributaries of the Muskegon River.

Nestle could pump about 210 million gallons-per-year under the proposed capacity increase to 400 gallons-per-minute (gpm).

Although Nestle's application seeks a pumping increase from 150- to 400-gpm, the DEQ Water Resources Division already approved a 100-gpm increase in the well's baseline pumping rate in 2015. Today, the well pumps at 250-gpm, but the company needs DEQ Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance approval under state law to reach 400-gpm.

Environmental groups contend the pumping will harm the local spring-fed trout streams. They oppose the increase, which Nestle sought after a well in Evart contaminated with a fireworks chemical was shut down last year.

The MCWC says there's a "disconnect" in the state's water policy when Nestle can pump millions of gallons of Michigan groundwater for nothing besides an annual $200 paperwork filing fee while water utility customers in Flint were charged the highest rates in the nation for water that has been unsafe to drink.

"Thousands of Detroit residents have been cut off from their household water supply for non-payment of water bills which are usually for less than 60,000 gallons per year," the group's statement read.

"In an environment like that, to give away billons of gallons of water at 95 cents per million gallons is just ridiculous," said Ostahowski. "It's a disconnect."

The MCWC thinks it'll take hearings for that to sink-in for state officials.

Michael Shore, DEQ spokesperson, said the agency is "committed to a public hearing" but hasn't scheduled one yet. The agency extended public comment on Nestle's application until March 3 in the face of public outcry.

Assuming the public comment window isn't extended again, the Nestle hearing is likely to take place some time in mid-February.

Shore could not comment on whether the DEQ might hold additional hearings.

Nestle is the largest among a handful of self-supplied water bottlers which to tap and sell Michigan groundwater. Between 2005 and 2015, the company withdrew more than 3.4 billion gallons of water from its wells in Evart, Morton Township in Mecosta County and Osceola Township in Osceola County.

Nestle representatives distributed a statement at the MCWC press conference that said the company is "committed to being a responsible steward" of Michigan water and the Ice Mountain plant supports the local tax base and creates jobs.

The company is holding open house meetings around mid-Michigan to generate support for its pumping increase. The next is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. at the Osceola County Fairgrounds in Evart on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

"We strive for full transparency in our operations and communications, which includes the ongoing discussion regarding our permit application with multiple stakeholders," read a statement attributed to Arlene Anderson-Vincent, natural resources manager at the Ice Mountain bottling plant.

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