Jun. 14—EAU CLAIRE — A Monday evening protest outside of Eau Claire City Hall encouraged city leaders to vote no today on Niagara Bottling Co.'s proposal to build a plant.

The protest was in response to a California-based bottling company, seeking to build a water bottling plant in Eau Claire. If approved, the overall investment of the plant is estimated to be worth $100 million and use 155.1 million gallons of water annually.

Protestors expressed concerns about the environmental impact the plant could have on Eau Claire's water supply and the plant's contribution to plastic production.

Area resident Joshua Reed alluded to Eau Claire's name meaning "clear water" and argued that the city's precious resource shouldn't be sold in a product he doesn't see as environmentally responsible.

"We should not fill our name into single-use plastic bottles to solve our money problems," he said during the City Council's meeting Monday night, where they heard from numerous protestors.

While the city does have an abundant supply of water, he said it is not infinite.

Jane Mohler, a retired professor of public health, expressed concern about how the plant could affect the water supply in terms of chemicals that already affect some of Eau Claire's wells.

"They have not done due diligence in terms of scientific discovery," Mohler said. "We could end up with multimillion-dollar problems for our city, and they haven't even looked into this."

The Eau Claire City Council delayed a vote on the plant last month after receiving substantial negative feedback from the community, postponing the decision until today's meeting.

City Councilman Andrew Werthmann, who has made his stance against the plant, was also in attendance at the protest held prior to Monday's meeting.

"This has been one of the most unifying issues that I've seen in my 14 years on City Council," Werthmann said.

Werthmann stated he is against the plant because there is no water protection plan in place for the city, and Niagara would pay less per gallon than Eau Claire residents.

"This is a decision that we are making for many many generations after us," Werthmann said. "This is a decision that shapes the course of our community and how we think about water, and how we think about who gets to access water, and how we think about who pays what for water."

In response to the idea that the plant could produce more jobs for Eau Claire residents, Werthmann said that the benefit of creating 58 additional jobs does not outweigh the cost to the environment and Eau Claire residents.

Community members also conveyed issues with the lack of community input before a vote was originally set to take place on May 24.

Lynn Buske, a community organizer for local group Joining Our Neighbors Advancing Hope, said the protest was essential because community members were shocked that their voices were not heard.

Werthmann shared similar sentiments saying that Niagara did not want the public to know about the bottling plant until after the vote happened.

Maddie Loeffler, a protest organizer, stated that the protest spreads community awareness and shows City Council members that there is strong support to vote no.

Buske said that she was amazed by the community's involvement in the protest.

"It was magical how fast and how many general residents who cared and (were) concerned did research, reached out, connected to each other and found each other," Buske said.

Those who support the bottling plant say it would positively impact the economy and provide higher-paying jobs for Eau Claire residents.

In a letter to the editor, Scott Rogers, vice president of governmental affairs at the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, said the plant is a desirable and responsible project.

"City staff has taken care to ensure that there is sufficient water capacity to provide for a successful project, and that safeguards are in place in case of future unforeseen circumstances," Rogers wrote. "The economic activity, increase in tax base and creation of high-paying jobs are all important reasons to move forward."

Eau Claire City Manager Stephanie Hirsch also wrote a letter to the editor in support of the plant.

"In the world of municipal government, the proposal is considered to be the best development a community can land. It creates high-paying jobs and causes few of the harmful impacts that accompany some industries, such as odor or contaminated waste," she wrote.

Leader-Telegram reporter Andrew Dowd contributed to this report.