Potentially cancer-causing chemical found in ex-landfill

Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H.

The state has found a potentially cancer-causing chemical in Merrimack’s former landfill but cannot say whether it has contaminated any nearby private wells.

The announcement Tuesday by the state’s Department of Environmental Services is the latest evidence that the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, is more widespread in New Hampshire than initially thought.

The chemical, used in Teflon coatings, was first found in more than 50 wells in towns surrounding the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics facility in Merrimack and has since been found in 11 private wells near a former manufacturing site operated by Textiles Coated International in Amherst.

The revelations about Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, based in Solon, Ohio, also prompted the state environmental services department to start looking across New Hampshire for facilities that have used PFOA.

Earlier this month, it released a list of more than 40 companies that were possible past or present users of PFOA. The list includes two Textiles Coated International sites.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics CEO Tom Kinisky has said the source of the chemical contamination can’t be definitively linked to the company because the chemical was so pervasive in recent decades, used in Gore-Tex jackets, ski wax and the linings of pizza boxes and microwave popcorn bags.

Textiles Coated International, based in Manchester, has said it is “fully committed to health, safety, and environmental compliance” and will work with the state “to fix the problem.”