State Expands PFOA Water Investigation

CONCORD, NH - What started as a low level detection of the chemical early in March has turned into a massive check of water safety as the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services announced today that it was expanding its water testing for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the region.

The expanded testing will now encompass a 1.5-mile radius around the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics facility in Merrimack and will include parts of Londonderry and Manchester, as well as more wells in Merrimack, Litchfield, and Bedford that it has already tested.

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On April 13, 2016, the org stated that it has received 161 water well test results and deemed 41 wells – 33 in Litchfield, seven in Merrimack, and one in Manchester – as having PFOA concentrations at or above the 100 parts per trillion (ppt), the level that officials have deemed to be unsafe to drink. The samplings showed concentrations between 100 and 1,600 ppt, according to Jim Martin of the NH DES.

The acid is a man-made chemical used in a variety of products – like non-stick cookware, weather resistant clothing, and carpeting. It’s used to make the products resistant to heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. The acid has been used at the plant in Merrimack, according to the company and the previous owners of the facility.

Updated sampling maps and data can be found here.

Tests of the Merrimack Village District Water Works water have showed between 8.5 to 90 ppt, according to the latest data.

“NHDES will be resampling the MVD wells on a weekly basis during the investigation,” Martin noted in a press statement.

Martin added that the state would soon have results from soil and groundwater test taken at the Saint-Gobain facility.

Residents in all the communities that qualify for bottled water have been receiving it from the state. Saint-Gobain has also informed the state that it will be paying for the bottled water.