About a dozen residents of West Penn Township attended a board of supervisors meeting last week to voice concerns about water harvesting by commercial firms.

The supervisors said there are no applications on file for water harvesting, but one resident said it appears that well testing for such usage is occurring on one property near Blue Mountain Drive."They're having equipment working on the property for the past three or four days," one resident said.The township's solicitor, Gretchen Coles Sterns, said nobody is permitted to haul water from that property.She said testing is permitted to determine the feasibility of hauling water from the site.The township is in the process of drawing up regulations for water harvesting.Dennis Resh of Blue Mountain Drive said so far he hasn't heard discussion regarding safety factors, specifically truck traffic. He said the area in question is "supposedly zoned agriculture, but on the whole street only three property owners actually have tractors."He said the trucks used for hauling water from harvest sites "are the biggest you can put on a street or highway."He said, "I'd hate to see someone get killed over stupid water."If water harvesting is approved, it would be limited to areas zoned agricultural or conservation. It would also be limited to sites measuring over 100 acres.One resident suggested that the township enact a royalty or gallons tax for harvested water. Sterns said she doesn't know of any tax possible under the state's tax enabling act. She said she will check into ordinances of municipalities that have natural gas extracted and determine if they have some regulations which would allow them to obtain fees for the extracted fuel.Rich Richards asked the supervisors if they will be notified how much water is pumped if water harvesting occurs.Supervisors' Chairman James E. Akins said there will be regulations. He said he understands those regulations require firms extracting water report how much was taken.Richards asked how the township can verify the figures that are reported. He said, "There has to be a watchdog," stating he doesn't have confidence in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for monitoring such activity.One township resident said he is concerned that if water harvesting is approved, it could affect property values.