NH couple fear effects of Dartmouth College water contamination
originally posted on August 23, 2016
The Associated Press
HANOVER — A Hanover couple says they experienced hair loss, peeling skin in their mouths and open sores between their fingers, but that everything stopped after Dartmouth College provided them bottled water.
The college informed Debbie and Richard Higgins in September that a likely cancer-causing substance had contaminated their water.
In the 1960s and ’70s, the college buried test animals that were likely involved in experiments using radioactive isotopes about 800 feet away from the Higgins’ property.
The couple told Vermont Public Radio their symptoms disappeared two weeks after they started drinking bottled water, but that they’re now concerned about possible long-term effects.
The college has invested $5 million to clean the site. It has been in ongoing mediation with the couple. Officials declined to comment on the Higgins’ case.