The West Penn Township Zoning Hearing Board has dismissed a challenge against New Ringgold Acquisition Group II LLC.

Residents opposed to the company's ongoing water extraction operation in the township asked for help from the zoning hearing board Monday night.West Penn Township Water Protection Inc., a group of concerned residents, asked the board to review the permit to extract water that the township granted to New Ringgold Acquisition and its owner, Jay Land, in January 2015.The company's permit was to use spring water for agricultural irrigation, but opponents say it has grown to 12 wells, and a regular stream of tanker trucks leave the property, according to attorney John Kotsatos, who represents the residents.On top of that, Kotsatos said New Ringgold Acquisition officials admitted in court that the water is trucked to a bottling facility.On Monday, the zoning board sided with an attorney for New Ringgold Acquisition, that the time to appeal the permit had passed, and it had no jurisdiction.After the permit was issued by township zoning officer William Anders in January 2015, residents of the township had 30 days to file an appeal, attorney Brett Datto said.The decision was 2-0, with Ronald Calarco and David Imschweiler voting to dismiss. The residents had made a motion to disqualify zoning hearing board member James E. Akins because he was a supervisor at the time that the permit was issued.Kotsatos said they could ask the courts for help next."We're going to sit down with all the applicants and give some consideration. Our next step may be to file something with the Court of Common Pleas in light of the zoning board's decision," he said.The residents believe that the original permit granted for agricultural use has been used to set up a commercial extraction operation.Kotsatos said one reason that residents didn't file a timely appeal was that the township kept them in the dark."One of the underlying things has just been the ongoing misrepresentation - the real damning thing was the concealment of the issuance of the permit. The other thing was the lingering discussion about a land development plan," he said.The hearing almost didn't take place due to a petition from the attorney for New Ringgold Acquisition. They asked Schuylkill County Court to make the residents post a bond for the hearing to take place. The court sided with the residents.