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USGS: 80,000 N.H. Residents Could Be Drinking Contaminated Water

Dennis Amith via Flickr CC

A new studyfrom the US Geological Survey estimates that as many as 80,000 people in Southeastern New Hampshire could be drinking water from wells with unhealthy levels of contaminants.

The study finds nearly 50,000 people could be drinking elevated levels of arsenic, nearly 15,000 with manganese, and fewer than 10,000 could be consuming either high levels of uranium and lead.

These estimates come from 232 surveys of private bedrock wells in Rockingham, Hillsborough and Strafford Counties from 2012 to 2013.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.
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