CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire is investigating whether emissions from a Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant found their way into groundwater of more than two dozen wells of two New Hampshire towns.
The company has said it's too early to say whether its plant in Merrimack was behind the contamination of at least three wells in Merrimack and 20 in Litchfield. The wells have PFOA levels, a suspected carcinogen, at or above 100 parts per trillion. The Environmental Protection Agency's advisory sets a limit of 400 part per trillion for short-term exposure.
Mike Fitzgerald, assistant director of the air resources division in the state Environmental Services Department, said the company emitted a derivative of PFOA for several years starting in 2001 before reducing emissions to almost zero.