State to Discuss PFOA Water Test Results this Week

CONCORD, NH - The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and the Division of Public Health Services, in coordination with the towns of Merrimack and Litchfield, will host meetings to discuss recent drinking water tests related to an investigation of the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in drinking water at the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics facility in Merrimack.

The meetings come after state officials alerted the public to about "low levels" - 0.03 micrograms per liter - found in samples taken from four water faucets at the company's facility on Daniel Webster Highway. The water came from the Merrimack Village District Water System.

The Merrimack meeting with be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in the all-purpose room at the Mastricola Elementary School, 7 School St. in Merrimack. The Litchfield meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, 2016, in the Litchfield Middle School cafeteria, 19 McElwain Drive in Litchfield.

Since the announcement about 10 days ago, a number of advocates have also become involved in the issue.

Weitz & Luxenberg and Erin Brockovich announced last week that they would be broadening the firm's investigation into regional water contamination, after the consumer advocate and law firm started similar investigations in New York and Vermont.

“Almost every week a new community learns its drinking water is no longer safe,” said Brockovich said in a statement. “We have to put an end to this crisis, step up our investment into vital infrastructure and see a greater enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

Chronic PFOA exposure has been linked to testicular cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension, according to Brockovich, who added that studies suggest other health consequences include a possible connection to pancreatic cancer.

Another attorney, Robert A. Bilott, a partner with Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, has also been in touch with state officials about the issue. In an email to Patch, Bilott stated that he had represented tens of thousands of individuals in various communities across the country about drinking water contamination. As a result of a 2005 action, an "extensive investigation" into the health effects of PFOA exposure had been done by an independent panel and found that very low levels - as low as 0.05 ppb - had links to the illnesses Brockovich mentioned.

Bilott called on the state and the Merrimack Village District Water Works to correct the public representations about level safety, especially when considering the risk of long term exposure. Other states, he noted, have dropped the low level warnings. The EPA, Bilott added, warned residents of Hoosick Falls, NY, not to drink water containing more than 0.1 ppb PFOA.

"Based on the sampling data referenced in the DES's and the Village's public statements, it appears that the level found in the Village's water - 0.03 ppb - exceeds that latest drinking water guideline," Bilott said.