Water bottling plant site moved from Ephratah to Johnstown

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Lamendola

CG Roxane announced Friday it will build a 245,000-square-foot water bottling plant in the town of Johnstown, rather than one approximately half the size in the town of Ephratah, as originally planned.

The California-based company plans to break ground on the plant this summer. It had planned to employ up to 90 people and spend about $20 million to construct a 129,000-square-foot plant on property in the town of Ephratah and had received site plan approval from the town’s Planning Board.

The company is now saying the proposed larger plant could create more “local jobs,” depending on market conditions. The larger plant will allow the company to bottle approximately 500,000 gallons of spring water daily.

CG Roxane was limited by wetlands on the Ephratah property to a 129,000-square-foot footprint, local officials said.

The company in December bought more than 390 acres of land in the area of Old State and Murray Hill roads in the town of Johnstown from Morris Evans for about $800,000. At the time, local officials speculated the company wanted the land to provide a buffer for the plant, to allow for future build-outs or perhaps to protect the source of the water it will bottle.

CG Roxane plans to buy up to 310,000 gallons of water per day from the village of Canajoharie and will drill wells in the town of Johnstown to test for additional sources of spring water, which would allow the plant to reach its full bottling capacity. The wells will be drilled on city of Johnstown watershed property.

CG Roxane officials said the company has submitted an application to the town of Johnstown Planning Board seeking site plan approval for the plant, which will be built on the south side of Old State Road.

Ephratah town Supervisor Todd Bradt and Johnstown town Supervisor Nancy MacVean were not available for comment Friday.

The company markets a product called Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, consisting of “really natural spring water” taken from “the highest quality and most protected spring and aquifer sources,” according to its website.