KUNKLETOWN -- Residents in one part of Monroe County are taking steps to block the Nestle Company from taking water to use for its Deer Park brand of water.
The Nestle Corporation has its sights set on water in Kunkletown and has submitted applications to bottle it up for Deer Park Water, taking 200,000 gallons per day from private land.
But it won’t happen without a fight.
"We're all worried about our wells,” said Eldred Township resident Donna Deihl.
Deihl is worried about the impacts this project could have and put signs up in her yard and front porch. Many have joined her in this battle.
"You come in and extract gold and the gold's gone, you go away. When you extract water, and the water's gone, what are the hundreds of families that use that water going to do?” asked Eldred Township resident Bob Boileau.
As Nestle tries to push the project forward, they’ve set up a community office hoping to answer questions and calm any fears.
"Our geological studies indicate our withdraw would be sustainable, and therefore the private water supplies in this community would be protected,” said Nestle Water hydrogeologist Eric Andreus.
More and more people who live in Eldred Township are growing concerned with Nestle's plans and more than 100 showed up to the last township meeting. Everything had to be moved to the firehouse just to fit everybody in.
Concerned residents filed a civil lawsuit against Eldred Township supervisors claiming they conspired to change zoning ordinances in Nestle’s favor without following proper procedures.
"We didn't know. We didn't know 60 trucks a day. We didn't know 200,000 gallons a day. We became familiar with that and knew about that well after a year after that ordinance was changed,” said Boileau.
Deihl and dozens of others plan to continue fighting to keep Nestle out of their backyard.
"I have no idea. I have no idea why they think this is a good idea,” said Deihl.
Eldred Township supervisors declined to comment on camera regarding the Nestle proposal because of the pending lawsuit.
