City of Dover issued the following announcement on December 9.
The City Council, at its Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 meeting, authorized City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr. to execute a settlement and funding agreement with New England Metals Recycling, LLC (NEMR) relating to groundwater pollutants found in the Pudding Hill aquifer. The agreement provides funding for construction, engineering, and operational maintenance of a state-of-the-art water treatment plant designed to remove contaminants from the drinking water, allowing the City of Dover to utilize the Pudding Hill aquifer again. The Council also approved an agreement with NEMR parent company Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., as the third-party guarantor of the settlement and funding agreement.
The agreement provides $11 million to build the water treatment facility now under construction. The design, funded by NEMR, has been peer-reviewed by University of New Hampshire faculty, who validated the recommended treatment processes of filtration, advanced oxidation and carbon adsorption to remove contaminants. The agreement also stipulates funding for construction engineering and facility operation and maintenance costs for three years after the facility is operational. If groundwater quality does not improve, additional operations reimbursement will be required annually until the contamination levels meet ambient groundwater quality standards. Earlier this fall, the City Council selected a contractor to build the water treatment plant off Stonewall Drive and authorized bonding to fund construction. The water treatment plant is anticipated to be operational within two years.
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) identified NEMR as a responsible party for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), 1,4 dioxane and methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) contaminates found in Pudding Hill aquifer water samples. To not further draw contaminants towards the drinking wells, the City of Dover elected to take Pudding Hill aquifer drinking water wells offline, including the Griffin Well in 2015, the Ireland Well in 2018, and the DPH-1 Well in 2020. When online, the Pudding Hill aquifer wells can provide more than 40% of the City of Dover’s drinking water needs. NEMR’s DES-approved remedial action plan includes providing wellhead treatment to the City of Dover to ensure the impacted public supply wells can continue to produce safe drinking water complying with all regulatory standards, among other obligations.
The City of Dover alleges NEMR is liable for the pollutants found in the aquifer from one or a combination of automobile shredding residue and metal and automotive recycling operations from NEMR’s facility on Knox Marsh Road in Madbury, formerly known as Madbury Metals. NEMR denies the city’s allegations. The agreement provides no admission of liability for the identified groundwater pollutants.
NEMR has previously cooperated with the City of Dover and has provided funding to support Dover’s investigation of the source or sources of pollutants, including funding City of Dover consultant Emery & Garrett Groundwater Investigations, a division of GZA, to assess the groundwater pollutants. In addition to the new water treatment plant, NEMR has also funded the creation of an artificial Pudding Hill aquifer recharge area that utilizes water from the Bellamy River to recharge the aquifer.
The settlement and funding agreement approved by the City Council on Dec. 8 stipulates for NEMR to provide:
- $11,053,213 for water treatment facility construction
- 80% of construction change orders up to $450,000
- 100% of construction phase engineering cost up to $1,050,00 Operation and maintenance costs for the first three years of operation, up to $885,000, with obligation for future contributions depending on actual contamination levels
- $25,000 for administrative oversight and legal fees
City Council's full Dec. 8 meeting can be viewed at: https://dovernh.viebit.com/player.php?hash=FaMyMV9i7GgW. The discussion about the agreement begins at the 59:38 mark of the meeting.
Original source can be found here.
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