A Kentucky-based attorney is criticizing the NH Department of Environmental Services for its response to possible water contamination in Merrimack.
In a letter also addressed to the Merrimack Village District Water Works, Attorney Robert Bilott says DES is understating health risks associated with the chemical PFOA, which may be contaminating water in Merrimack. Bilott also questions the accuracy of DES press releases that call contamination level “below the EPA’s provisional health advisory.”
Bilott advises New Hampshire to look to Vermont and New York, both of which have taken more proactive stances in the wake of similar contaminations.
Bilott has spent his career fighting DuPont in multi-million dollar lawsuits over the same contaminant. He is not involved in a possible class action lawsuit in Merrimack.
The contaminant in question, known as PFOA, belongs to the same perfluorochemical family those found in water on the Pease Air Force Base in 2014.
