×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Groundwater testing at Saint-Gobain plant reveals high concentration of PFOAs

By KEN LIEBESKIND - For The Telegraph | Feb 18, 2018

Groundwater tests at the Saint-Gobain plant in Merrimack revealed high concentrations of PFOAs.

Golder Associates, a Manchester environmental consulting firm, collected groundwater samples from 11 groundwater monitoring wells at the Saint-Gobain plant and released results that show PFOA levels above the 70 parts per trillion standard that exceeds the ambient groundwater quality standard, according to Leanne Atwell, a hydrologist and project manager at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

“Every one is above the state groundwater standard, and

one well came in at exactly 70,” Atwell said.

Assistant DES commissioner Clark Freise said the Golder tests, conducted in November and December of 2017, were followups to tests conducted after Saint-Gobain initially revealed water tap contamination at its factory in early 2016.

“We were concerned with regard to the Saint-Gobain contamination in New York and Vermont and went out to test public and private drinking water wells in Litchfield and Merrimack,” Freise said. “We did the first round of testing and saw results far above 30 parts per trillion and we got bottled water into the houses in the neighborhoods that were impacted.”

Saint-Gobain is cooperating with the DES, according to Dina Pokedoff, director of branding and communication for Saint-Gobain.

Freise said research into Saint-Gobain water contamination is continuing.

“Now we’re doing a site investigation to make sure we know the extent of the contamination,” he said. “They’ll do soil and surface water testing and we’ll test these wells again and they will propose a remediation plan.”

Saint-Gobain officials noted that they are not yet working on a remediation plan, as additional testing must be done.

“There are myriad treatment activities in other parts of the state and we need to determine what makes sense here so that public water is safe to drink,” Freise said.

The treatment activities used so far have been providing bottled water, or point of use or point of entry filtration systems to contaminated homes and connecting the homes to public water systems, which is preferable.

Saint-Gobain has paid for bottled water and connecting many area homes to public water but there are disputed homes in Merrimack that have not been connected yet. Resolution of this issue is expected by the end of February.

Ross Bennett, a senior engineer at Golder Associates, said the next monitoring event is scheduled to begin on March 26.

None of the groundwater wells tested at Saint-Gobain connect to any public drinking water supply. Stormwater drains at the facility also do not connect to public feeds.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *