Poland Spring Seeks Five-Year Renewal of Denmark, Maine Water-Extraction Permit Amid Resident Concerns

Poland Spring has filed with the town of Denmark to extend its groundwater-withdrawal permit for another five years. The application would allow the company to pump up to 432,000 gallons per day, not exceeding 105 million gallons in any 365-day period, from the Cold Spring aquifer that supplies one of the brand’s ten Maine sources. The original permit was issued in 2005.

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Denmark approved a large-scale water-extraction ordinance in late 2024 that gives the town authority to curtail or halt pumping when aquifer levels fall below set thresholds and to treat changes in ownership as new permit applications. The ordinance was adopted shortly after Poland Spring’s parent, Blue Triton, merged with Primo Brands—an event the company argues exempts it from the new rules. Residents have become increasingly vigilant about water resources following a severe drought that began in 2023 and has since eased, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

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• Permit limit: 105 million gallons annually (? 432 k gallons per day).

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• Maine Public analysis shows a 23 % increase in withdrawals at the Denmark site between January and September 2025-2026, and a 40 % rise at the nearby Fryeburg site over the same period.

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• Poland Spring contributes roughly $34 thousand in annual property taxes and modest community funding, but receives no direct compensation for the water extracted.

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Local residents at a town hearing voiced alarm that wells are drying and Long Pond—a four-mile spring-fed pond—has remained several feet below normal. They argue the company’s pumping contributes to the pond’s low level and request that any renewed permit include mandatory reductions after three consecutive drought months.

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Poland Spring’s hydro-geologist, Matt Reynolds, contends that groundwater conditions, not the company’s extraction, are responsible for the pond’s decline. Senior natural-resource manager Mark Dubois emphasizes that the watershed receives about 46 inches of precipitation annually, yielding roughly 4.3 billion gallons of water, of which the company withdraws only about 2.4 %. He notes the site has withstood past extreme droughts and that no significant climate-change impact is expected over the next five years.

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• “There has just been a significant loss of pond water, and these gauges aren't measuring anything anymore. They're just on dry land. So what they're accomplishing, I don't know,” — Jeff Trickel, said resident

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• “I'm going to run out of water and I'm very pleased that the town is taking measures to make sure that people are supported in curing issues to their well,” — Cullen Ryan

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• “We've been adaptively managing the site to climate and alert levels,” — Mark Dubois, the company's senior natural resource manager

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• “So we can turn it down and we can watch the aquifer rebound. And that's what we did this year,” — Mark Dubois, the company's senior natural resource manager

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• “If we don't have spring flow, we're out of business, folks. We can't call it spring water, and we're not here. Those springs are critical to our business,” — Matt Dubois, the company's senior natural resource manager

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