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Conservation Law Foundation Sues Pease Over Water Contamination

The Conservation Law Foundation is suing the Pease Development Authority over water contamination issues at the former Pease Air Force base in Portsmouth.

The Conservation Law Foundation says the Pease Development Authority failed to seek required federal storm water runoff permits from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Conservation Law Foundation lawyer Tom Irwin says the federal Clean Water Act requires the PDA to have a storm water runoff management plan.

“It’s not a matter of waiting for the EPA to take action; it’s a matter of Pease having failed to take action under a permit program that came into being in 2003.”

Irwin says contaminants from Pease, including perfluorochemicals which were discovered there in 2014, have been flowing into the Great Bay in storm water runoff for years.

The state attorney general’s office is representing the PDA in the case.

Jason Moon is a senior reporter and producer on the Document team. He has created longform narrative podcast series on topics ranging from unsolved murders, to presidential elections, to secret lists of police officers.
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