NHDES Commissioner Scott Testifies in Washington on PFAS Impacts to New Hampshire

Concord, NH - Today, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Bob Scott provided testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Environment regarding the impact of Per- and Polyfluoralkyl Substances (PFAS) contamination on New Hampshire’s environment. The Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the widespread PFAS contamination of air, drinking water, groundwater and food supplies across the United States.

“New Hampshire is one of the first states to promulgate enforceable drinking water standards for four PFAS chemicals, however we are looking to the EPA to move quickly to develop federal standards, and in particular to provide an approach to regulating the entire PFAS family of chemicals,” said Bob Scott, NHDES Commissioner. “Additionally, if we are ever to solve this national problem, we need the federal government to work with industry and other nations to reduce and eventually remove these compounds from the industrial and commercial stream.”

A link to the Subcommittee’s agenda is available here: https://oversight.house.gov/legislation/hearings/the-devil-they-knew-pfas-contamination-and-the-need-for-corporate

A copy of Commissioner Scott’s testimony is available here: https://www4.des.state.nh.us/nh-pfas-investigation/wp-content/uploads/RRS-Testimony-USHouse-072419.pdf

Video and photographs from the hearing are available upon request. For more information, please contact Jim Martin, NHDES Public Information Officer at james.martin@des.nh.gov or (603) 271-3710.