News & Events

RYE — Craig Musselman of CMA Engineers discussed PFAS chemicals and drinking water with the Board of Selectmen Monday.

 

“From my perspective, this needs to be monitored from a water supply perspective and not a waste site perspective,” said Musselman, the former Rye selectman.

 

Results were varied in the most recent PFAS testing at the Breakfast Hill and Grove Road landfills. PFAS levels in monitoring wells at the Breakfast Hill landfill over two testing rounds in 2017 ranged from one result of non-detect to 6 to 18 parts per trillion, or ppt.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency has a public health advisory of 70 ppt for PFOS and PFOA and New Hampshire follows this advisory.

 

“We have on site one well at the edge of Route 1 that shows 72 and 74 combined PFOA and PFOS concentrations, which are slightly above the New Hampshire drinking water standard of 70 combined for those two compounds,” Musselman said.

 

CMA tested monitoring wells at the Grove Road landfill four times between May 2017 and May 2018. Musselman said the landfill operated from the 1920s until 1975.

 

“We have in a very small area here, an area of trash that is permanently sitting in the groundwater,” he said.

 

Monitoring wells around the Grove Road landfill had PFAS in concentrations ranging from 57 to 152 ppt during the four rounds of testing, while another well measured as low as 5 to 8 ppt, he said. The Rye Water District also monitors this site and Musselman recommends the district, which is a separate entity from the town, take charge of the effort.

 

“If the town is doing the sampling with a separate sampler and analytical lab, that doesn’t make any sense because there’s a not insignificant question as to whether there’s a difference between labs in any one given set of samples,” he said.

 

Musselman recommended the district have access to the monitoring wells at the Grove Road landfill based on its proximity to the Garland well, which the district developed as a public supply in the 1970s. The town should then apply to the state Department of Environmental Services for a groundwater management permit to monitor the area as a waste site, not a drinking water source, he said.

 

Musselman also recommended monitoring the activities at the Coakley landfill, maintaining transparency of all Rye PFAS data and evaluating firefighter gear and foam.

 

Selectmen discussed an equipment fire next to the Grove Road landfill in 2012 and questions remain whether it was put out with Class B firefighting foam, which has a high concentration of PFAS. Musselman recommended selectmen learn whether Class B foam was used, and consider disposing of any of the foam the town may have. He also said it has been shown that firefighters’ gear is “loaded with PFAS.”

 

Fire Chief Mark Cotreau agreed to present at a future meeting per the request of Selectman Philip Winslow.

NORTH HAMPTON — In an attempt to find solutions to the Seacoast’s struggle with rising water levels, the draft report of the Philbrick Pond Salt Marsh Drainage Evaluation was recently released to the public.

 

The report was prepared by CMA Engineers among other contributors. The project’s mission was to survey the Philbrick Pond salt marsh, a 29-acre area along Route 1A, and determine possible recommendations to control high tide and storm surge flooding, as well as how to prevent an extreme 100-year storm from stranding the area’s residential neighborhoods.

 

The report also collected and analyzed data to find ways to improve the ecology and health of the salt marsh.

 

Water drains into the pond and marsh via two culverts below the roadway. One culvert is from a circa 1900 vintage trolley berm with a vitrified clay pipe, the other is a 48-inch diameter concrete pipe, the DOT culvert, which extends under Ocean Boulevard into the sea.

 

After evaluating extensive data on hydraulics, the effects on nature in the tidal marsh, and alternatives for drainage and flood prevention, the report suggested two possible solutions to consider.

 

One solution is to remove the cobble v-notch weir at the DOT culvert and replace it with a 4-foot wide concrete slab. This “slab” suggestion comes with a possible cost of $60,000. The report found this approach would improve the marsh’s health, without increasing flood risks.

 

The second solution for consideration is to improve roadway access in the neighborhoods. This would involve raising Old Locke Road or possibly building a new road from Bradley Lane to Woodland Road. Potential issues with this idea range from cost, a combined potential $700,000, and to land access, as it would involve cutting through several properties.

 

The salt marsh has long been an area of concern for residents, who had over 40 homes isolated by flood waters in the 2006 Mother’s Day storm. The result was a neighborhood with no access to vehicular traffic and emergency services for almost three days.

 

Craig Musselman, of CMA Engineers, commented at the public presentation that in “the grand scheme of things,” North Hampton is in a better position to weather sea level rise than neighboring Hampton and Rye.

The optimism of Musselman did not assuage fears from many residents of another 100-year storm, or of the ability of the town to adopt a plan that would ensure their safety and access to emergency services.

 

The final report will be presented to the Select Board and residents in August. There will be a full public hearing before any of the options presented would be acted upon, if any are at all.

 

Funding for the project came from the town and grants from the state Department of Environmental Services under the New Hampshire Coastal Program, as well as federal funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

The entire 199 page draft of the Philbrick Pond Salt Marsh Drainage Evaluation report is available on the town of North Hampton website.

 

https://www.northhampton-nh.gov/sites/northhamptonnh/files/uploads/1028-philbrick_pond-dr-180816-salt_marsh_drainage_evaluation1-cnm_docx_draft_5-rs.pdf