Regarding the “My Turn” column “Goldilocks, the government and Saint-Gobain” (Sunday Monitor Forum, Aug. 28), companies don’t last 350 years (and counting) without strong values.
One of the core values that has helped Saint-Gobain survive and thrive that long is understanding how much of a privilege it is to be part of the communities where we live and work. Litchfield and Merrimack are no different. Ever since elevated levels of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, were detected in these communities, Saint-Gobain has taken an “act now, ask questions later” stance that stays true to not only our own values, but also to what is right.
Working toward our primary goal of ensuring all residents have clean drinking water both now and in the future, we are funding the delivery of bottled water to homes with elevated PFOA levels near our plant. But we’re doing much more. We are paying for the work currently underway to connect certain homes in Merrimack to municipal water lines, which is being done by the hard-working people at C.T. Male Associates and Ted Bantis Trucking and Excavating.
Saint-Gobain also paid for the engineering design work by Pennichuck Corporation for the potential expansion of the existing public water system in Litchfield, which is now complete.
Now, as we and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services recently announced, we are working with Pennichuck to secure bids to connect 360 homes in Litchfield using private wells to the municipal water line. In fact, while 104 homes in the area tested above the EPA advisory level for PFOA in drinking water, we agreed to expand the scope of the bid to include the additional 256 homes due to their close proximity.
As we have since first learning of elevated levels of PFOA, the source or sources of which are still being investigated, we will continue to work with local, state and federal officials to ensure residents have clean drinking water.
TOM KINISKY
(The writer is president and CEO of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics.)