This story was originally produced by Seacoast Online. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
In May 2014, the city of Portsmouth — working with state and Pease Development Authority officials — announced it had shut down the city’s Haven well after tests showed it was contaminated with per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Then-PDA Executive Director David Mullen said at the time the Haven well — which is located at the former Pease Air Force Base — was shut down in “an abundance of caution.”
Dr. Jose Montero, who was then director of public health at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said at the time health officials didn't know the health impact — if any — from drinking water containing PFAS.
A decade has passed, and PFAS, which are often called forever chemicals, have been found in water supplies throughout the country and around the world. When officials from the federal Environmental Protection Agency set much stricter protective standards for PFAS in April this year, they left no doubt about the danger of the chemicals.
Continue reading at Seacoast Online.
