New Hampshire has reached what officials call a “monumental agreement” on water contamination with the Saint Gobain plastics company.
It comes more than two years after the state first learned of the contamination near Manchester, and will require the manufacturer to run clean water to all affected homes.
Now, Saint Gobain has signed a consent decree with the state, promising to do the same for about 300 other properties.
“This is an agreement that hopefully will be welcomed by a lot of the residents that have been waiting for good news to be announced,” says state Department of Environmental Services spokesman Jim Martin.
“They can finally know that they’re no longer in limbo and that they will be connected sooner rather than later.” He says the state wants many upgrades done this year, or by November 2019 at the latest.
It hasn’t been made public in full, and Pokedoff says it still must be finalized in court.
The agreement also requires further environmental monitoring, testing and potentially clean-up in the area.
All of that could stretch for years, adding up to what Martin calls the largest groundwater investigation in state history.
DES will answer residents’ questions at a public meeting Wednesday night in Litchfield, at 6:30 p.m. at Campbell High School.
For those who can’t attend, the meeting will stream online, and DES will hold office hours in Bedford and Merrimack on Thursday.