Town Studies Proposal for Water-Bottling Plant

This lumber town is considering a bottled water company’s proposal to open a plant.

The McCloud Community Services District next week is scheduled to discuss Nestle Waters North America’s proposal to build a factory in the southern Siskiyou County village.

Nestle controls nearly 33% of the nation’s bottled water market, and wants to use a McCloud-area spring to fill its bottles with 1,600 acre-feet of water a year.

The plant would employ about 60 full-time workers when it opens in 2006, said David Palais, geologist and natural resources director for Nestle. Eventually the plant could employ as many as 240 workers.