Merrimack asks DOT to reduce road salt after tests show high salt levels in water supply

Merrimack officials say too much road salt is contaminating their water, and they’re asking the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to put less on the roads.If you drink the water in Merrimack, there’s a chance that it’s high in salt.”Groundwater contamination by road salt affects the environment and public health, and that’s why steps like this are being taken to protect the public,” said state Rep. Nancy Murphy, D-Merrimack.One of the Merrimack Village District’s water sources is the Naticook Brook. Testing shows salt levels have risen over decades next to roads managed by the DOT.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<”We shouldn’t even be asking for making this a new reduced salt area because the posted signs out there indicate it already is,” said Donald Provencher, chairman of the Merrimack Village District Water Works Board of Commissioners.To get the road salt reduced, the DOT told Merrimack that all town departments need to sign an approval letter. But the school board said it won’t for legal reasons.”The fact of the matter is, it’s the taxpayers that are the MVD customers, so we’re all going to feel the effect of this,” Provencher said.Local representatives say the school board can write a different letter to defer the decision. Until that happens, it’s likely that nothing will change again this winter.”When you see the health impacts in human beings from environmental contamination that we neither caused nor were aware of, it makes you feel like you have to do something,” Murphy said.The DOT hasn’t responded to News 9’s request for comment.This isn’t the first time Merrimack has dealt with water contamination. The Saint-Gobain plastics plant closed two years ago after PFAS was found in the water supply.