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EPA and NH DES Fund Purchase of Wetlands in Merrimack, NH

Release Date: 08/27/2002
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1008

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and N.H. Department of Environmental Services today announced the awarding of $254,000 towards the purchase of about 50 acres of the Greens Pond wetland area in Merrimack, N.H.

The 50-acre parcel is part of about 563 acres of forests and wetlands that the town of Merrimack purchased last month for $4.2 million The property includes White Pine Swamp and a large unnamed wetland near Naticook Road. The federal and state contribution is being used exclusively for the purchase of the large unnamed wetland and associated uplands near Naticook Road in the southeastern portion of the 563-acre Greens Pond property.

EPA and DES are contributing the $254,000 as compensation for wetlands that were permanently lost at the NH Plating Superfund site in Merrimack. It is the second such acquisition EPA and DES have funded due to wetland losses at NH Plating, the first being the acquisition of Grassy Pond in 1998 in nearby Litchfield. That purchase was made by the State of New Hampshire, with $1.4 million coming from EPA and DES.

"While the loss of wetlands at New Hampshire Plating was unfortunate, it is great that EPA and DES have teamed together to protect other valuable wetlands that are close by," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator at EPA's New England Office. "The 50-acre wetland in Merrimack is especially important because it helps protect the town's public water supply."

"Wetlands protection projects like this one in the Merrimack River Valley preserve wildlife habitat and promote good water quality," said DES Acting Commissioner Dana Bisbee. "They also serve to maintain valuable open space, particularly critical in this fast growing portion of our state."

"This is a very significant purchase for Merrimack because it is one of the largest contiguous areas of undeveloped land in the town," added Merrimack Town Manager Dean E. Shankle Jr. "This purchase is good for Merrimack and good for the region."

The 13-acre New Hampshire Plating Superfund site operated as an electroplating facility from 1962 to 1985. Wastewater containing metals and cyanide used in the electroplating operations was discharged into drainage channels in the building floor, and flowed into unlined lagoons (former wetlands) north of the building. Contaminants from the unlined lagoons reached the groundwater and moved toward and into the Merrimack River.

The EPA removed sludge and soil from the lagoons and removed the contaminated building including the foundation, floor slab and underground storage tanks between 1989 and 1994. In 1992, the site was added to EPA's National Priorities (Superfund) List making it eligible for federal cleanup funds.

As part of the cleanup plan, which was finalized in 1998, contaminated soils on the site are to be treated and consolidated on site so that they are no longer a source of contamination to the groundwater. As compensation for the loss of wetlands at the site, EPA and DES contributed funds for the protection of off-site wetlands in the area.