Related — Water warriors rally against contamination
“MERRIMACK, N.H. — Some people living near the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant in Merrimack are demanding change from their elected leaders, calling a recently released government report on a class of industrial chemicals a wake-up call.
‘We’ve been told in this state that there’s no human data,’ said Laurene Allen with the group Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water. ‘There are no studies that really show the level of harm in things so here we do have that officially on record now, so we need the state to step up.’
The study on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, was made public this week, months after the Environmental Protection Agency reportedly stopped its release.
On Saturday, protesters outside the Saint-Gobain facility demanded action to address contaminated groundwater. Two years ago, elevated levels of chemicals were found near the facility.
The new federal study shows PFAS are more toxic than previously thought. It says the minimal risk level for exposure to PFOA and PFOS should be seven to ten times lower than the level currently recommended by the EPA.
Parents said they are concerned about what this new information could mean for their children.
‘Knowing that when he was an infant and we were feeding him formula that we were making his formula with water that wasn’t actually safe to be making his formula with is a little bit upsetting,’ said Brian Stisser of Merrimack.
The state and Saint-Gobain have been providing drinking water to hundreds of homes in impacted towns.
In a statement to WMUR, Saint-Gobain Director of Communications Dina Pokedoff said they hear these concerns.”
Read the full article by WMUR