“MERRIMACK — Despite a petition from more than 700 residents asking Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics to pay for water filtration systems at local schools, the company says it is not prepared to take that action.
‘At this time, we cannot agree to supply an additional filtration system, but we remain open to further discussing these issues with the school district,’ Dina Pokedoff, director of communications at Saint-Gobain, said in a statement released Monday to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Although the company is not willing to assist with the financial costs of installing filtration at the six local schools, the school board still intends to pursue the filtration process. Last month, voters adopted the school district’s budget, which includes $128,000 to install central filtration systems at the schools that would treat select faucets and water fountains…
‘Testing shows that PFOA levels in the school district’s water are below the state’s 70 ppt standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency for the most sensitive populations based on a lifetime of exposure,’ said Pokedoff. ‘It is important to note that the Merrimack Village District, which is the provider for the school district, uses water from a broad area that includes many possible sources of PFOA, some of which are located more than eight miles from Saint-Gobain’s Merrimack facility.’
Still, about 700 residents signed a petition urging Saint-Gobain to pay for the installation of the filters at the schools…
Pokedoff explained that Saint-Gobain recently reached a consent decree to fund the extension of municipal water service in portions of Merrimack, Manchester, Litchfield and Bedford. Furthermore, she said the company recently agreed to fund a granular activated carbon filtration system on two public wells operated by the Merrimack Village District.”
Read the full article by Kimberly Houghton