Forty people came to the Polk Township meeting Monday night in response to rumors that Nestle might be moving into the township.

Last week, rumors began circulating in Polk and Eldred townships that Nestle, or possibly another company, was going door-to-door along a section of Route 209, conducting a survey and asking homeowners what their feelings are regarding water extraction.As of Monday, the word was that residents along Route 534 were also being surveyed.This caused a stir in the wake of Eldred Township's battle against Nestle's plan to withdraw 200,000 gallons of water daily from the Chestnut Spring aquifer.Earlier this month Nestle withdrew its application and stated that it was abandoning the Eldred project.About a third of the audience were Eldred Township residents there to show their support for their neighbors."I wanted to be here to show my support with those that stepped up and supported us," said Barbara Meadows of Eldred Township.Departing from the agenda, Chairman Brian Ahner said he was told no such surveys were being conducted."I received a call from Eric Andreus saying that Nestle was not conducting surveys and was not seeking to extract water in Polk Township," Ahner said. "I had spoken with him about two years ago about the traffic issues and he had me as his contact."Andreus is a hydrogeologist with Nestle and was the frontman in Eldred Township throughout the evaluation and permit phase."I want to add that there is no application or other contact other than this morning," said township solicitor James Fareri. "No one has contacted the township that has actually spoken with a representative of Nestle."Ahner asked if anyone at the meeting had personally been surveyed, and no one indicated that they had."I pray that these are all just rumors," said Marissa Strohlein. "We are all sitting on billions of dollars in raw natural resources. Water is a precious resource. Nestle stood to make billions in untold profits with very little investment. Clearly rumors were enough to pack this room."Strohlein was an outspoken opponent in Eldred Township.Another who was active in fighting Nestle in Eldred was retired teacher Donald Moore."Your zoning only permits water extraction in a very small area, which is marked in blue on the zoning map," Moore told supervisors."But your ordinance does not contain special conditions for water extraction. You can improve your ordinance by placing limits on the amounts and other conditions."Moore also warned that companies interested in extracting water could approach the regional planning body, CJERP, and request changes in the zoning ordinances for the surrounding townships."You need to check your ordinances," said Donna Deihl of Kunkletown."Nestle was in Kunkletown for years before any of us knew they were there. The ordinance was changed to help them. You need to be vigilant and look for changes."