Coakley Landfill Group Clean-up Efforts Non-Existant
Road leading to Coakley landfill site where toxic pollutants still flow into Berry’s Brook in Greenland. Greenland Select Board alleges the Coakley Landfill Group has done nothing to fix the problem, found mitigation efforts non-existent and asks NH DES to fulfill its legal obligation to force the CLG to do its job.
Dereliction of legal compliance and a heartless public comment from the Coakley Landfill Group
In a letter to the Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Robert Scott following an April 14th meeting with Coakley Landfill Group the Greenland Select Board urged DES to continue to monitor the PFAS contamination on the New Hampshire Seacoast as a result of Coakley Landfill Group’s unsuccessful remediation attempt.
Greenland Select Board Chaiman Steve Smith said, “We were shocked and saddened by the flippant way these topics were casually addressed by the CLG during it’s recent meeting in April. Our community has, through no fault of our own, been subject to pollution and health hazards from the Coakley Landfill and we deserve better from the CLG.”
I co-sponsored HB 494 in 2019 with directed the DES to work with Coakley Landfill Group to pursue a remedy to ensure the substantial reduction of PFAS contaminants entering Berry’s Brook from the Coakley Landfill site.
Simultaneously, Democratic Leader Rep. Renny Cushing sent additional correspondence to the Commissioner in the his role as the sponsor of the 2019 legislation HB 494. Rep. Cushing said the Coakley Landfill Group has been dismissive of the thousands of Seacoast families affected by the pollution and their legal obligation to act. Installing “sandbags” as a barrier in the water to remove PFAS contaminants from Berry’s Brook has been an unsuccessful remediation effort to substantially reduce the PFAS contaminants affecting our state’s waterways and drinking water.
Rep. Cushing said, “I was personally horrified to hear the Portsmouth City Attorney’s comments which weaponized and manipulated the law the legislature passed to clean up Berry’s Brook against families suffering from the effects of PFAS contamination. To say that the law only required Coakley Landfill to try one remedy for cleanup, and to further assert they have no obligation or intent to try another remedy after their chosen method proved ineffective, is a concerning dereliction of legal compliance. It is also a heartless public comment to those who have developed cancer and other serious illness as a result of Coakley Landfill’s pollution. I urge the Department of Environmental Services to continue to act as the law has directed and pursue remediation options to rid the New Hampshire seacoast of PFAS contaminants.”