Chinese water bottler in Nashua in build-out as it prepares for permits

A Chinese water bottler is in the process of its build-out of the 337,391-square-foot building it purchased in Nashua, its project team trading emails with local and state health officials about what is needed for permitting.

In an email to the NH Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), one of the permitting authorities, an engineer from Clayco, a Chicago-based design/build construction company, said: “Our understanding is the state permit could affect process and packaging equipment layouts.”

“We want to clearly understand if and how state issuance of this permit will impact other aspects of the project timeline/construction,” added Luke Appelbaum, a Clayco project engineer, in an April email to DHHS officials and to Rene Beaudoin, Nashua deputy health officer.

Clayco is doing the build out for NF North America, a subsidiary of Nongfu Spring, a giant water bottling and beverage company that is expanding its production and marketing into the United States with the purchase of the sprawling property in Nashua, which it bought for $67 million in January.

Earlier in the trading of emails in February as Clayco began amassing information about permitting, Beaudoin commented: “Looks like it’s going to be a massive project.”

Similarly, the company has been in what was described as “high level” discussions with Pennichuck Water, the city of Nashua’s water supplier, about its water needs both in terms of the building (plumbing, fire suppression) and its future bottling operation.

Pennichuck CEO John Boisvert said the general discussions need to be filled in with details of the operation and what improvements the company has to make or accommodations Pennichuck has to make in order to mutually meet the needs.

“That’s at the high level, so that they were aware, in their due diligence, that they knew that they were going to have these — I wouldn’t call them hurdles — I would call steps that they would have to take to be able to receive the type of service they want,” Boisvert said.

“The next step would be to really iron up the details, and then we turn the engineers loose,” he said.

Asked if that has happened yet, Boisvert said: “No, not yet.”

The New Hampshire Legislature enacted a measure that prevents this kind of property purchase in the future. It was signed into law June 27 by Gov. Kelly Ayotte as part of the two-year state budget.

A product shot of Nonfu Spring water available from alibaba.com

Nongfu Spring water as advertised for sale on alibaba.com

Legislation specifically prohibits anyone or any organization or company from China, Iran, Syria, Russia or North Korea to occupy or control, any real property within the state of New Hampshire.” The law is in effect immediately.

Originally, the House version of the measure limited ownership to within 10 miles of what it called a “protected facility,” which included the New Hampshire National Guard in Concord, New Hampshire Army Aviation Support Facility in Concord, Readiness Center of the 197th Artillery Brigade in Manchester, Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth, Space Force Station in New Boston, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

It was written as part of the policy language of the new two-year state budget. The restrictive ownership language was expanded in the Senate version of the budget to include “any real property” after word of the $67 million purchase by the Chinese company began to make the rounds, even as some of that information was incorrect.

State Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, in an op-ed piece written for the Union Leader alleged a link between Nongfu Spring and the Chinese Communist Party, saying that the Nashua purchase is a “massive CCP-linked company seeking a foothold in America’s water supply. Nashua is the first city to grant a domestic water contract to Nongfu Spring, with Nongfu announcing plans to expand aggressively in America by gaining access to our tap water for bottling operations.”

He wrote that members of the congressional delegation, all Democrats, have stood by as “Nongfu hijacks the Nashua local utility.” He did not reply to an email request for more information.

There is no evidence that Nongfu Spring has ties to the CCP. According to CNN, Nongfu Spring is often criticized in China for not being nationalistic enough because American investment companies — Vanguard and BlackRock — hold significant shares in Nongfu Spring.

Pennichuck CEO Boisvert is aware of the incorrect information that’s been circulating. “It was sad to see that type of thing out there,” said Boisvert, making note of some of the misinformation, including that the company planned to purchase the Pennichuck Brook adjacent to its property for the bottling operation.

“There’s the perception that somebody’s just going to put a pipe in Pennichuck Brook and take the water from Pennichuck Brook, but that’s not the case,” Boisvert said. “There’s just no way that that’s going to happen.”

Boisvert said that NF North America’s water needs “falls within our existing withdrawal permits.” According to Boisvert, Pennichuck is currently permitted by the state for more than 30 million gallons of extraction per day. On average, the daily demand is 11 or 12 million gallons, up to 20 million gallons during the summer.

That includes high-usage customers such as the Anheuser-Busch facility in Merrimack.

When the usage is known and everything, including required permitting, is in place, Boisvert said, “We treat it, we’ll put it into our distribution systems, and they will receive the water, just like everybody else does, any other business, any other resident or anything. It doesn’t matter what the name of the door is or the size of the building. It’s business. This is what we do. This is our business. That’s what we’re here to support, the entire community that we serve.”

The series of emails from February to April was released to NHBR as part of a Freedom of Information request to DHHS.

The emails listed for the Clayco team what was needed from it and the company to satisfy administrative codes for beverage manufacturers.

• Both the state DHHS and city of Nashua have requested a full set of plans, drawn to scale, to include: Location of all bottling equipment
• Location of specific areas where product is being bottled
• Location of all refrigeration
• Location of the compartment and hand washing sinks
• Location of toilet facilities/restrooms
• Location of dressing rooms/locker rooms/break rooms, etc.

From the company, regulators need:

• Full legal name of corporation, LLC, owners
• Bottling facility name
• Location of facility
• Phone number for facility, once established
• Mailing address, if different than business address for any correspondence such as licensing
• Primary contact person: name, phone, email
• Emergency after hours contact person name and phone
• Current registration number, if known
• Type(s) of product bottled (i.e. tea), and specific list of products to be bottled.
• Copies of labels for all different products to be bottled
• Copies of any FDA approvals issued relative to labels making claims of medicinal or health properties

The N.H. Department of Environmental Services (DES) also has an interest in the facility.

While the water source — Pennichuck Water — is the already-licensed provider, DES says registration with the agency is required if it exceeds 20,000 gallons per day averaged over any seven day period, or more than 600,000 gallons over any 30 day period. A spokesperson for DES said no certification has yet been sought.

The state records of incorporation show these business entities at 80 Northwest Blvd. in Nashua: NF North America as a foreign profit corporation created on March 13 and NF North America as a foreign limited liability company (LLC) formed on Jan. 21. Its stated principal purpose is: “Production, sales, warehousing, distribution, import and export of food, bottled water, beverages, advertising and marketing business; real estate; holding.”

The other business entity at 80 Northwest Blvd. is Steamfill Packer, a foreign LLC created on Feb. 19 that lists its purpose as “beverage manufacturing and sales.”

Wu Limin is shown in state records as both president and director of NF North America. She is also Nongfu Spring’s director and chief financial officer.

In a recent LinkedIn post looking for a U.S. head of marketing, the company said: “Our company is a leading beverage giant in China, known for its innovative and diverse product portfolio. With a strong presence in the domestic market, we are now expanding aggressively into the United States,” the post said. “We are committed to bringing our unique and high-quality beverages to American consumers while adapting to local tastes and preferences.”