MERRIMACK — With some residents going straight to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services with their concerns about local water contamination, town officials are urging them to seek local assistance as well.
‘I feel like I could be doing some leg work for people and answering questions,’ said Town Manager Eileen Cabanel. ‘That is what we are here for.’
Earlier this month, a member of the Citizens for Clean Water in Merrimack asked DES to perform groundwater testing at Watson Park and Twin Bridge Park in light of the water contamination problem likely caused by Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in Merrimack.
‘The citizens have been busy, and they have not been busy including you,’ Nancy Harrington, town council chairman, told the council’s two liaisons for perfluoroalkyl substances, Bill Boyd and Peter Albert.
Harrington said representatives from the Department of Environmental Services (DES) are notifying the town manager about inquiries from Citizens for Clean Water in Merrimack. Harrington said that the group should also be contacting Boyd and Albert, who can in turn relay their concerns directly to the full town council…
Productive discussions about perfluorooctanoic acid and other contaminants should be held in front of the town council, with the town manager or with the two liaisons, not on social media, stressed Harrington.
Albert said that he and Boyd told newly elected members of the Merrimack Village District and new representatives with the Citizens for Clean Water in April that they are still invested and want to be involved with the contamination issue.
However, the councilors said they have not been contacted since then. Boyd said he has been asking his own questions about the topic, but explained that he cannot compel someone in the community to reach out to him.”
Read the full article by Kimberly Houghton