BREAKING NEWS! Saint Gobain decides liability too high

Saint Gobain decides to shutter Merrimack, NH pollution plant

BREAKING NEWS: Merrimack, NH. In-Depth NH News reports that Saint Gobain Performance Plastics (Saint Gobain) has elected to close its Merrimack, NH facility. It’s clear that Saint Gobain decided that the finances don’t make sense anymore for their Merrimack, NH plant. Due to growing current and future liabilities and the clock is running out on their ability to continue to pollute southern New Hampshire with their per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) industrial emissions.

Saint Gobain’s industrial emissions caused the most extensive drinking water pollution in New Hampshire history and elevated rates of several cancers in southern NH residents as outlined in our peer-reviewed publication last year. You can also read more here.

In 2018, a bill I sponsored (SB-309) set strict enforceable drinking water regulations in New Hampshire and recently USEPA signaled that they will enact stricter federal enforceable standards for PFAS in drinking water by the end of 2023.

In the past few weeks, the plant and regulators have come under increasing criticism for approving the company for another five years to emit their PFAS-polluted industrial emissions. For several years, the HB737 Statutory Commission, which I serve as a Senate-appointed member, has been a consistent and effective mechanism to pressure the state to hold Saint Gobain accountable.

While it’s good news that the plant is closing, we must keep the pressure on the regulators and state government to hold Saint Gobain accountable for cleaning up their mess in southern New Hampshire. Saint Gobain closed its Vermont plant in the early 2000s to come to New Hampshire on the promise of lax environmental controls on their pollution. Similarly, the state of Vermont began holding them accountable with stricter regulations, so Saint Gobain decided the dollars didn’t make sense to continue operating in Vermont.

Moving forward, NH regulators and legislators must learn a hard lesson about striking a balance between the wants and desires of industry and the expense to the health and welfare of the citizens of New Hampshire.

As doctors express concern over the high and increasing rates of childhood cancer, the state must be proactive about cancer prevention. Especially since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the children in New Hampshire experience the highest rates of cancer in the nation.

The state of New Hampshire can and must do better to protect the citizens from the likes of Saint Gobain who wish to pollute our state at the expense of the public health of our citizens.