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Some Facts About New Hampshire’s Infrastructure:New Hampshire has approximately 17,000 miles of state and town roads, turnpikes and interstate highways. There are 3,795 bridges in the state. As of 2010, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation plowed more than 800 lane miles of roads and put down 180,000 tons of salt for snow and ice control annually.The state was given a “C” grade by the American Society of Civil Engineers for the condition of its roads and bridges. New Hampshire was rated among the worst in the country for the poor condition of its bridges by Transportation For America. On average, bridges are older in New Hampshire than those in the rest of the country. There are hundreds of bridges on the so-called “red list,” which means that the bridges have major structural problems and need to be repaired or replaced.The state also has a poor record when it comes to public transportation. New Hampshire has no comprehensive rail system and is rated 42nd in terms of investment in public transportation according to the State Department of Transportation.The majority of New Hampshire’s infrastructure funding comes from vehicle registration fees and gas taxes. The state takes out fewer bond loans than other states and considers its funding a “pay as you go” system. The gas tax, the lowest in New England, has not been raised since 1991. The 2011 Legislature did away with a motor vehicle fee increase. That change has meant more $30 million a year in cuts to DOT.The $800 million expansion of I-93 from Salem to Manchester began in 2006, but has been delayed several times because of a lack of funding. Supporters of the expansion say it will update one of the country’s most congested highways and bring needed tourism revenue to the more isolated and less economically robust northern part of the state. Traffic on I-93 has increased 600 percent since the highway was built in the 1960s and approximately 80,000 cars now drive on it each day.Summary provided by StateImpact NH

N.H.'s Drinking Water Systems: A Look At PFOA, Aging Infrastructure, and Private Well Testing

Gloconda Beekman
/
Flickr/CC

After the Flint, Michigan water crisis, many around the country started taking a closer look their own water systems. And with a recent contamination scare in southern New Hampshire by the chemical PFOA  - the concerns have become local.  We'll look at the state's sources for drinking water, and the challenges to delivering it free from contaminants.

GUESTS:

  • Sarah Pillsbury, administrator of the public drinking water program at New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
  • Jane Ceraso, director of water resource protection programs at New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, which assists member states

We'll also hear from:

  • Matthew Medsger, reporter for the Nashua Telegraph.
  • Howard Weiss-Tisman, Vermont Public Radio's southern Vermont correspondent, covering Windham and southern Windsor counties. He's been covering the PFOA contamination issue for VPR.
  • Barbara Reid, Government Finance Advisor for the New Hampshire Municipal Association. She focuses on municipal financial operations, including funding for local public water infrastructure.
Read more:

  • N.H. Department of Environmental Services' page on the ongoing PFOA investigation: NHDES is investigating the presence of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in drinking water in the towns of Merrimack and Litchfield, New Hampshire. The investigation was initiated in early March 2016, when Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics notified NHDES that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was detected at low levels.
  • The NHDES Be Well Informed Guide, which provides information for private well owners about test results from their well water.
  • NHDES fact sheet for private well owners
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