By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Fearing contamination to water wells that supply Pembroke, Allenstown and parts of Hooksett, Pembroke officials have halted operations at a local construction warehouse where hazardous materials, including acetone, were being stored.

The Attorney General’s Office has also launched an investigation focused on activities at the Routes 3 and 106 property, owned by Merrill/Dennison, confirmed Esther Piszczek, an attorney in the Environmental Protection Bureau.

Piszczek declined to go into detail about the investigation, but said it is criminal and is not focused on Merrill/Dennison.

Pembroke officials said hazardous materials were being stored in a warehouse owned by Merrill/Dennison that was being leased by a company called Venture Construction.

Several local officials said preliminary tests have not yet shown any contamination to soil or water surrounding the Merrill/Dennison site, yet the proximity of the site to the town’s water wells has sparked close scrutiny.

Pembroke Waterworks Superintendent Paul Whittemore said “a few” 55-gallon drums of acetone, and some other questionable materials were found during a routine inspection in March.

Acetone is a colorless, flammable liquid that’s commonly known as the active ingredient in nail polish remover. It has a number of industrial uses when mixed with phenol.

The Merrill/Dennison property sits within the heavily regulated aquifer conservation district and wellhead protection area, said Whittemore.

The findings sparked a Tuesday, June 27, public hearing on the possible revocation of a 2002 site plan for two storage sheds adjacent to Merrill/Dennison’s main building.

Local officials contend Merrill/Dennison violated a handful of conditions approved for the site by storing hazardous materials, by leasing a shed to Venture Construction, by installing utilities and by not removing some storage trailers.

“That property is so close to the town wells,” said the selectmen’s representative to the planning board, Larry Young. “That’s why we had all those conditions in the first place.”

At the public hearing, Merrill/Dennison agreed to fund an environmental assessment of the property to determine if there’s been any contamination.

“There’s no contamination we know of,” said Whittemore, “But there’s reasonable suspicion to warrant the environmental assessment.”

Young said such assessments typically cost about $15,000 to $18,000, and said he expects the test results to come back in one to two months.

“It’s heartening to see them taking some responsibility like that,” Young said of Merrill/Dennison.

The planning board tabled revoking the site plan for 90 days, but has issued a stop order to Venture Construction, said Pembroke Planning Director Laura Scott.

Scott also said Merrill/Dennison is evicting the construction company.

The Route 3 and Route 106 area has a number of commercially zoned properties, said Scott, despite it being located so near the water supply.

Scott said many of the businesses in the area were established before the town began enforcing strict usage controls to protect the aquifer and Route 3 wells.

Young suggested Pembroke and its neighbors have some of the best water around.

“It is very unusual for a town to have a water source as good as ours,” he said. “We just hope it can last.”