Merrimack

In 2016, the manufacturing company Saint-Gobain told New Hampshire officials it found PFAS – also called forever chemicals – in the public water supply near its Merrimack facility.

Laurene Allen, who co-founded the advocacy group Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water, has been advocating for remediation and justice in communities impacted by PFAS contamination for almost a decade.

En Librería Pública de Nashua, madres leyeron un cuento bilingüe, en inglés y español. Music Hall y UNH llegan a un acuerdo. Demócratas de Merrimack discuten esfuerzos en contra de PFAS.

NH State Rep. Rosemarie Rung pointed out that in New Hampshire those settlement funds will be directed to the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund, which will provide loans and grants to public water systems where levels of PFAS, a class of harmful man-made chemicals, are above standards.

The lawsuit, filed in 2016, seeks to hold Saint-Gobain liable for PFAS chemical pollution in drinking water near their Merrimack facility.

Police said they "encountered a number of protestors blocking the driveway voicing support for Palestine" and several on the roof of the office building.

The tone Wednesday night was celebratory after the company announced it would close the Merrimack facility. But those gathered called for Saint-Gobain to take more responsibility for PFAS contamination in the area

The company has been under fire for years for their use of PFAS chemicals, which have contaminated water in the area around their facility in Merrimack. But the exact timing of the closure remains unclear.

The approval comes after local pushback against the manufacturing company’s initial application that was available for public comment earlier this summer.

Saint-Gobain has adopted numerous remediation efforts for its PFAS pollution since it was discovered. But local critics say they don't have confidence in the proposed permits' terms.