The governor has signed a bill setting ridiculously low and arbitrary water standards on every town and city in the State. Municipalities will need a few hundred million statewide to meet these standards with no basis in sound science (hey, VT did it!). Money that neither the towns nor the State has to spend.
Related: NH Defrauds Exxon Mobil with MTBE Scam
And why does the bill only pony up $50 million in “loans” to help pay that freight?
Jackpot justice.
New Hampshire expects companies that operate in the State to settle lawsuits for huge sums or that NH will win and get a similar or better payday. They’ve done it in the past with MTBE.
Privately owned gas station tanks (the underground fuel storage containers) are alleged to have leaked into groundwater and local wells. The State did not go after the station owners. They didn’t even try to get money from the tank manufacturers or installers (to the best of my knowledge). They hired out of state lawyers to chase Exxon Mobil for the crime is being big enough to sue for a payday.
But Exxon was following EPA regs, MTBE was EPA approved, and federal law forced them to add it to their gasoline. Despite these facts, New Hampshire sued and won 235 million-plus interest. I expect nothing less over PFAS and PFOA.
The 50 million in ‘loans’ is a gimme to get buy-in, which Gov. Sununu happily did. And while no one wants to worry about what’s in their drinking water, be it MTBE, PFAS, Arsenic (we have a lot of that which occurs naturally), the science on harm from PFOA and PFAS as it relates to exposure is anything but reliable.
People who work with the stuff are not developing cancer or health issues faster than other parts of the population. In other words, there is no evidence calling for the standard NH borrowed from Vermont and set into law.
Despite that, the virtue signallers and now Gov. Sununu has embraced an impossibly expensive metric whose cost violates State law. NH cannot cram costs down on towns and cities without paying for it. Offering 50 million in loans falls exponentially short of the money needed to test and mitigate to the mandate, but it shows us their cards.
They know it’s not enough, and a loan does not cover the State’s fiscal obligation, but it was passed and signed it into law anyway. They expect NH courts to hand them a few hundred million from 3M and others to cover for the loan and the hundreds million more to pay for their illegal legislation.
Think about that. The State government, lead by the Democrat majority (with the help of our invertebrate Republican governor) plan to cover the cost of big government mandates through a lawsuit they have yet to win.
Who the f**k governs like that?
Well, Steve, it might cause cancer, and it showed up in babies who were breastfed, and they call it a forever chemical.
The list of things we use that might cause cancer (someday) is too long to share. The breastfed baby study has been roundly challenged as too narrow and inconclusive. And as far back as 2010, the human half-life was estimated at about 3-years. I don’t make clocks or calendars, and my math’s not great, but three years is a few short of forever.
I’m not saying there’s no reason for caution or concern or even some form of a regulatory standard. Still, I would bet someone else’s money (that’s what they are doing) that this only became law because the political class is convinced it will look good on their resume and because they can screw someone else for the upfront costs. And maybe they do, but there are “forever costs,” and those will be born by local taxpayers (forever) for what amounts to a political cause, based on an emotional reaction, built on sand.