The New Hampshire House has passed a bill that would kick-start further cleanup of the Coakley Landfill Superfund site in North Hampton.
Lawmakers on Wednesday voted against a committee’s recommendation that the idea be studied further. Then, they passed the bill, 207 to 118.
The measure tells the state Department of Environmental Services to spur remediation at Coakley by getting money from the towns and other entities responsible for the pollution.
Opponents say that move would violate the settlement those polluters made with the Environmental Protection Agency. That deal paid to cap the toxic site in the 1990s.
But bill co-sponsor Renny Cushing, a Democrat from Hampton, says Coakley is still leaking toxins into groundwater of surrounding towns.
“They didn’t do what they said they were going to do. It’s leaking now – it’s a threat to the health and safety of the people on the Seacoast. We need to stop talking and start acting.”
The bill goes now to the Senate.
