Alleged N.H. PFOA Polluter Told To Work With Utilities

New Hampshire regulators are telling a plastics company to work closely with water utilities to resolve a public health threat posed by perfluorinated compound (PFC) contamination in the region.

“New Hampshire environmental regulators have told fluoropolymer processor Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. that it’s potentially liable for cleanup of groundwater contamination around its factory in Merrimack,” Plastics News reported.

“Since [the state] began testing private wells in Merrimack and Litchfield for water contamination within a one-mile radius of the Saint-Gobain plant in Merrimack, 25 properties (26 wells) have detected elevated levels of PFOA above 100 parts per trillion — 23 wells are located in Litchfield and three are located in Merrimack,” the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.

In a letter dated April 1, New Hampshire Environmental Services Department Commissioner Thomas Burack told company officials that they must take steps to resolve the public health threat posed by the contamination. He told the company to provide bottled water, investigate the site, and to work in collaboration with public water system suppliers.

“Provide for the design, installation, operation, maintenance and monitoring of all water treatment system(s) necessary to effectively treat and remove PFC contamination from all affected public water systems,” he wrote.

That includes the following:

Retain the services of a qualified professional engineer to design the treatment system(s) necessary to effectively treat and remove PFC contamination from all affected public water systems.

Upon approval from [New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services] and the public water supply owner(s), construct, install and make operational the approved treatment system(s).

Provide for the necessary long term operation, maintenance, and monitoring of the installed treatment systems.

The company has said it will work with regulators on cleaning up the contamination. Dina Pokedoff, spokesperson for Saint-Gobain provided a statement to the Union Leader.

“We offered to fund the provision of bottled water for residents with wells that tested above the state and federal advisory levels for PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid),” she said. “We’ll work with a New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services vendor to have the cases of water delivered, and expect to be invoiced shortly for both the water and delivery.”

“We are in discussions regarding potential courses of action going forward, and assisting in investigating the source or sources of the elevated levels of PFOA, which are currently unknown. Once the investigations are completed, we will evaluate the findings and determine how to proceed,” she continued.

PFOA is a manmade substance, “readily absorbed after oral exposure,” according to the U.S. EPA. It accumulates “primarily in the serum, kidney and liver. Toxicological studies on animals indicate potential developmental, reproductive and systemic effects.” It has been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, among other major health problems. Currently, the federal government considers it an “emerging” threat, meaning it may pose a potential or real threat to public health.

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