N.H. Landfill Wins Permit Renewal To Send Runoff Into Merrimack River

A New Hampshire landfill has won renewal of a permit that allows it to send up to 100,000 gallons a day of polluted runoff to a Massachusetts plant that treats water bound for a major drinking water source.

The Boston Globe reports federal and state regulators renewed the permit for the Turnkey Landfill in Rochester, New Hampshire, in September, allowing it to send its runoff to the plant in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The plant drains into the Merrimack River, which provides drinking water to more than 500,000 people.

The landfill's owner has acknowledged that the landfill runoff contains potentially harmful chemicals known collectively as PFAS.

The treatment plant doesn't have equipment that can filter out PFAS, worrying environmental and public health advocates.

Massachusetts officials say they'll be working with the plant to test its discharge for pollutants.