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State Orders Saint Gobain to Install Air Pollution Controls at Merrimack Plant

Annie Ropeik / NHPR

 

The state has ordered the Saint Gobain plastics manufacturer to install air pollution controls on its Merrimack factory. 

 

The facility’s smokestacks are thought to be the source of high levels of PFAS chemicals that contaminated nearby drinking water wells two years ago. 


 

Tests of the stacks since then show Saint Gobain may still be emitting low levels of the chemicals. 

 

Now, the state will hold the factory to a newly passed law regulating soil and water pollution from air emissions. 

 

Officials told the company Monday to apply for an air pollution permit and submit an analysis of the systems they might use within six months. 

 

The state will bring residents up to speed on the issue at a public meeting in Merrimack on October 10th.

 

Annie has covered the environment, energy, climate change and the Seacoast region for NHPR since 2017. She leads the newsroom's climate reporting project, By Degrees.
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