However, these same chemicals have leached into two nearby Portsmouth supply wells and are making their way into the municipal water supply and into our homes.
Not all chemicals are harmful.
In the case of PFAS, however, the evidence points overwhelmingly to the fact that these compounds are harmful to human health, even at extraordinarily small concentrations.
It is clear that the EPA’s current provisional health advisory for PFOA and PFOS is inadequate and leaves the public vulnerable to potentially life-altering consequences of exposure.
The work conducted by the federal public health agency concluded that acceptable risk levels for exposure to PFOA and PFOS are seven to 10 times lower than the risk levels that the EPA used to calculate the current drinking water health advisories.
For example, New Jersey and Vermont have both developed drinking water guidelines well below the EPA’s health advisory.
Dangerous chemicals were deposited for years and are now contaminating nearby water supplies.
The consequences of these activities are expensive.
The Coakley Landfill Group has spent $17 million in remediation to date; the Portsmouth taxpayers’ share of that figure comes to $8.5 million and counting.
A healthy population depends on safe, clean drinking water.