“CONCORD — A bill that would require the state Department of Environmental Services to set ambient groundwater quality standards for two additional PFAS chemicals passed the House Thursday.
Senate Bill 309, if signed into law, would require DES to set ambient groundwater quality standards for perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS). Both of the chemicals have impacted two local communities.
People exposed to contaminated water at the city of Portsmouth’s Haven well found that when their blood was tested typically PFHxS tested at the highest levels. PFNA has been found at high levels in Berry’s Brook in Greenland adjacent the Coakley landfill, a Superfund cleanup site.
The bill has previously passed the Senate and now heads to the House Finance Committee.
State Sen. Dan Innis, R-New Castle, lead sponsor of the bill, is optimistic the House committee will support the bill, which is co-sponsored by a group of bipartisan lawmakers. Innis also pointed to House Bill 1101, which he said is ‘similar to my bill.’
‘What we’re going to do is amend both bills so they’re virtually identical and then they’ll go to a conference committee,’ Innis said Thursday.
He believes the resulting bill will ultimately be signed into law by Gov. Chris Sununu.”
Read the full article by Jeff McMenemy.