By Jerome Reuter
The subject of clean drinking water has been a major concern for the citizens of Londonderry. Over the past few years, an increasing number of contaminants have infiltrated the towns water supply. This has led to town officials taking steps to implement changes in the way water treatment and testing, as well as locating the sources of the contamination.
The primary contributor to PFAS concerns is the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant in Merrimack. Wind carrying exhaust form the plant has led to an increasing number of PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) in several Londonderry wells.
PFAS are manmade chemicals that have several adverse effects to the human body if exposed for prolonged periods of time. These include decreased chances of fertility, high cholesterol, and thyroid disease.
Since this was discovered, a consent decree has been filed due to the company’s failure to implement equipment to monitor air pollution control. The court order held SGPP accountable for their error and as such, the company is under strict supervision to undertake drastic action to change their policy and practices.
The Londonderry Town Council recently met and discussed procedures to correct this issue.
Town Councilor Tom Dolan, who chaired a water task force over the spring and early summer addressed the council and was very forthcoming about what he thinks should be done. “We’re organized around three separate goals” he began “To identify what the PFAS standards were and how to test for them, how to mitigate those contaminants and communication efforts within the community…we need to help spread the word and educate our fellow citizens.”
Some of the areas for concern were the consistent levels of arsenic which are still relatively high, and Trottier reinforced the dangers PFAS. “We looked at the toxicology of the PFAS chemical, it’s an emerging science right now. Even the toxicologist of the state doesn’t have all the answers. What we do know and is troubling is that PFAS is one of those chemicals that accumulates in the human body and is not one of the chemicals that is cleansed out…we don’t know what the long-term effects are.”
Londonderry residents are currently responsible for the testing of their own water supply. “The residents of Londonderry are on their own, they have to test their own water” Dolan explained. In terms of mediation, residents of the town can filter their water supply at the faucet, or implement filtration for their entire home. “We’ve spoken about a town wide water system…but it would be very expensive.”
Dloan also addressed public education and communication of these new procedures to the community. “We wanted to make sure we answered the publics questions accurately and in a timely manner.” The task force that Trottier oversaw will be given financial help of an undisclosed amount to assist them in the purification effort. “We hopefully will have enough money as a town in order to help our residents.”
This served as a point of contention for board member Deb Paul, and she voiced her opinion at the meeting. “If Saint-Gobain is the major contributor to the major pollution problems we’re seeing in our town, why is it that we, the taxpayers of the town have to be responsible? We didn’t pollute the water,” Paul said.
The discussion continued, and an idea was proposed that Londonderry should have their own water committee. Although this situation is a hot button issue, Dolan reminded the board that he thinks Londonderry is the most forward-thinking town in the state when it comes to monitoring and solving the issue of water contamination.