“HAMPTON – Selectmen praised the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday for acknowledging contaminants leaching from the Coakley landfill could be flowing east, which they argue may be sending carcinogens into Hampton’s drinking water supply.
EPA remedial project manager Richard Hull wrote that ‘a small, but discernible, eastern component of groundwater flow’ could be coming from Coakley, in a letter last week to the group that funds the Superfund site’s remediation, the Coakley Landfill Group. A hydrogeologist contracted by the CLG, Mike Deyling, has repeatedly said groundwater flows west and north from the site.
The EPA’s letter to the CLG was an order for the CLG to make a series of changes to its planned deep bedrock investigation at the Superfund site, located in North Hampton and Greenland. Town Attorney Mark Gearreald suggested to selectmen Monday that the town’s own letter to the EPA be sent supporting the agency’s belief an eastern flow could exist. He said the letter could be prepared for the board to approve at its meeting the following week.
‘Finally, the EPA seems to recognize that, yes, they should at least explore whether in fact, through bedrock investigation, that materials have been flowing in those directions,’ said Gearreald to selectmen Monday.
EPA and the N.H. Department of Environmental Services officials have said there is no evidence to show Coakley is the source of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, found in Aquarion Water Company wells, which serve Hampton, North Hampton and Greenland. PFAS in Aquarion’s wells has not violated federal health standards, and Aquarion heads have said the water is safe to drink.”
Read the full article by Max Sullivan