Select Board questions Poland Springs proposed alert and action level changes ahead of public hearing

Select Board member Andy opened the workshop Aug. 5 to prepare technical questions for Poland Springs permit renewal, emphasizing that no decisions would be made at the session and the goal was to identify information the board and public should see ahead of the hearing. The board repeatedly asked for the basis of proposed changes to action and alert levels, noting older and newer applications use different datasets and methods.

Rick, a town staff member who had prepared a memo for the board, said he opposes lowering the alert and action levels proposed for some wells and recommended re-examining the methodology. "It's very difficult to discern with the techniques that are being used ... to discern between 0.48 CFS and 0.4," he said, arguing the Rocky Knoll Dam monitoring point in particular needs clearer thresholds the equipment can reliably measure. Board members asked staff to document how the original levels were developed (20062008 monitoring and a 180-day drawdown extrapolation in the 2009 application) and to explain why the 2012 renewal incorporated additional USGS data from Oxford that changed the values.

The board asked Poland Spring to provide annual water-level graphs (2004present) for all monitoring wells and to identify any missing columns or calculations in successive applications. Members requested clearer report deadlines in the ordinance (for example, a specific day such as 30 days after the previous month) and asked staff to confirm whether more wells should be added to weekly monitoring during severe droughts. Rick said he will draft a briefer memo listing specific data needs and recommendations for alert/action level review before the public hearing.