John Marr, who has a well 58-feet-deep on his farm near Turbotville, asked what to do if he runs out of water. Brownell told him to call the commission since it can determine if pumping at the plant caused it.

Water Street resident Brett Levan said the average Washingtonville well depth is 60 to 90 feet and his well is only 23 feet deep. If he has to drill a new well, he said he would, "but I'm not paying $5,000."

Brownell assured Levan there would be no cost for residents because commission regulations protect existing water users. U.S. Gypsum would have to pay the price to fix something it broke.

Connie Kuziak, of Derry Township, felt all the water should be drawn from the river, a decision that would add an extra step in the process because the water would have to be cooled.

"It would take more investment on their part, but if they really want to be a good neighbor, they don't need to put our wells at risk," Kuziak said.

"We could use water from the river for five years and never pull from a well," U.S. Gypsum Plant Manager Schaffer said. But, he said it's difficult for them to "lay all our eggs in one basket" with one water source.

At times, the plant may need a back-up source that might mean 10 percent of the water will be pulled from a well, 50-50 from a well and another source or all from a well, he said.

According to Schaffer, the back-up source will not make or break the project. But the plant, which will use artificial gypsum created at the nearby PPL plant to create its product, seeks to withdraw 350,000 gallons per day from one well. In comparison, an average above-ground pool holds 20,000 gallons of water.

With that amount of water being drawn from the local system, it's no surprise that another meeting will be held once more well information is gathered.

The gallon total also caused a different kind of concern for Derry Township resident Kit Kelly.

Kelly was concerned about the plant drawing water from a deep aquifer and relieving pressure from the bottom, allowing water in an upper aquifer to draw-down. Brownell said the last test run showed a leakage around a pumping well that they are very concerned about. "We want to make sure we resolve this before issuing an approval," he said.

Brownell expects his staff to make a recommendation at the river basin commission's Sept. 11 meeting at Bucknell University.

Schafer says U.S. Gypsum, a 105-year-old company and one of the world's largest manufacturer of drywall products and joint compound, will be waiting for the results. The last thing it wants to do is smear it's good name

"You are our neighbor," Schafer said. "We want to embrace the community. We're glad to talk to all of you and answer your questions and concerns. We're here for the long-term and not here to make a buck,"

E-mail comments to kblackledge@thedanvillenews.com.