Maine, stop complaining. You reap what you sow. As I traveled to Fryeburg for the fair this week (where upwards of a million people will go in eight days), I was surprised at the number of “No Nestle/No Poland Spring” and “No Tanker” signs adorning the telephone poles along the route. When I arrived at the fair in Fryeburg, what type of water do you think was being sold to these million people? Poland Spring of course.

Don’t blame Poland Spring – they need a lot of water – they’re victims of their own success. They sell water across the country, and a great majority of it is right here in Maine. Let’s face it, most people don’t care that the corporate headquarters is in Switzerland, or that Fryeburg is “Ground Zero” for the water extraction debate. Now the panacea is a crippling tax on water that will kill small bottling businesses like mine much quicker than it will ever affect Nestle Corporation. “Buy local” is just a convenient buzz phrase that few people make a conscious effort to do. How many times have you seen people criticize Poland Spring while they are drinking a bottle of it?

I own an historic natural free-flowing spring right here in Harrison, Maine. Our source is a scant 15 minutes away from Fryeburg, and I can’t even get the Fryeburg Fair people to return my phone call; so much for “local support.” We only bottle water that makes its way to the surface naturally, the overflow of the aquifer, no pumping, no drilling, and no detriment to the environment. In fact, we go to great lengths (at significant expense) to preserve the natural integrity of the source and surrounding land. There is an alternative, and you would think that would be quite popular with the environmentally concerned citizens of Maine, but to the contrary, our local support borders on abysmal. We are the only bottled water company who is a member of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) but ironically Summit Spring has a broader appeal to the citizens of New Hampshire than it does in its home state of Maine.

When I bought this company a year ago and began the arduous task of trying to resurrect a proud old Maine brand, which dates back to the 1800s, I made a big mistake; I greatly overestimated the support I would receive from Maine people. I am a member of the local chamber of commerce and have been from the very beginning. I have donated water to special events every time I’ve been asked, yet out of nearly 400 local business members of the chamber, I can count the members that are my customers on one hand.

I think it’s time to stop blaming the large successful water companies, because the reality is, we’ve created them and we continue to bolster their success.

N. Bryan Pullen

President

Summit Spring Water, Inc.