Home | Environment Union Leader Correspondent Several residents from New Hampshire traveled to Washington this week to participate in the first-ever Senate hearing on polyfluoroalkyl substances, urging legislators to take more action to address the growing contamination.
Laurene Allen of Merrimack reminded federal officials that PFAS chemicals are not regulated or designated as toxic substances.
“Despite an extensive and growing library of health science linking every PFAS compound studied to health disruptive outcomes at lower exposure levels than acknowledged, only PFOA and PFOS currently have health advisories,” Allen wrote in a statement provided to senators and entered into the congressional record on behalf of the Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water.
Several Granite State residents attended the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs’ subcommittee hearing: The Federal Role in the Toxic PFAS Chemical Crisis.
“It is currently estimated that 1,500 drinking water systems serving up to 110 million Americans are contaminated with PFAS chemicals,” said Allen, adding Merrimack is just one of many communities affected by the problem.
Before Wednesday’s special Senate hearing, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a new analysis highlighting the significant health risk posed by PFAS.
“This report reaffirms what concerned Granite Staters already know — urgent federal action is needed to address PFAS contamination at military bases and communities across the country,” Sen. Maggie Hassan said in a release.
“I’m glad to be participating in the first-ever Senate hearing on PFAS this week, but we have far more work to do to protect Granite Staters and Americans from contamination in their drinking water.” Andrea Amico of Testing for Pease in Portsmouth also planned to testify at the hearing, saying it is important to show that there are real people with real families that have been impacted by the widespread contamination.
“We want our government officials to understand what our needs are and what we need from them to help us solve this nationwide problem,” Amico said in a statement.
“We cannot change the past, but I know we have the ability to do better.” NashuaNews@unionleader.com