Saint-Gobain, a French manufacturing company that has been the epicenter of PFAS pollution in southern New Hampshire since 2016, announced it will be closing its Merrimack facility.
The closure comes just as Saint-Gobain was approved for a controversial air permit earlier this month by the N.H. Department of Environmental Services. Saint-Gobain has been at the center of public scrutiny after PFAS chemicals were discovered in Merrimack water supplies in 2016.
Since 2018, the company has been involved in remediation efforts to supply bottled water and implement filtration systems after coming to an agreement with the NHDES.
“Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics will continue to work closely with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services on the ongoing environmental investigation and remediation effort, including providing bottled water and permanent alternate water, as appropriate, within the Consent Decree area,” Saint-Gobain said in a news release.
“The company values and thanks all of its employees for their hard work and is committed to supporting each employee through this transition. Alternative roles and relocation assistance will be offered to eligible employees who wish to remain with the company. Support packages will be made available to those who will not continue.”
The decision comes “after careful consideration and strategic evaluation of what is best for achieving Saint-Gobain’s core business goals and is in line with the company’s mission and plan,” the company said. The company has no plans to move operations from Merrimack to another location.
The company is ceasing these activities in North America; it is not a transfer of operations, according to a spokesman.
Rep. Rosemarie Rung, D-Merrimack, had the following to say in a written statement about Saint-Gobain’s announcement: “This is an important step to halting the environmental assault on Merrimack from Saint-Gobain, but Governor Sununu must now step up and ensure Saint-Gobain does not leave town without a fund in place to clean up the mess they are leaving. There remains PFAS in the soil that will continue to contaminate our water for decades. This announcement does not leave them off the hook.”
Laurene Allen, local advocate and co-founder of Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water, expressed similar concerns after hearing the news of the company’s decision. “I am concerned about where they are moving this production line to, as the invisible nightmare will then begin for an unsuspecting community,” Allen said in a text message.
“Saint-Gobain’s utter disregard for N.H. communities is egregious and reflective of its primary focus and misplaced priorities: profits over people,” said Rep. Nancy Murphy, D-Merrimack, in a statement.
Murphy was also concerned about the aftermath of Saint-Gobain’s production once they depart Merrimack. “Beyond the costs borne by private well owners outside a far too small ‘consent decree area,’ we have paid to filter the drinking water in our homes; we have paid to filter the public wells in our town; we have paid to filter the drinking water in our schools. And we are paying for the contamination of our air, water and soil with our compromised health,” Murphy said.
— ANI FREEDMAN/INDEPTHNH.ORG
