James McConnell

HB 199 Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee January 29, 2025 This testimony is in strong support of HB199. I would prefer, however, that instead of extending the statute of limitations to twenty years, you remove the statute of limitations entirely. I served two terms in the House (2014-2018) as a Republican Representative from Richmond and Swanzey on the Resources, Recreation and Development Committee. Were I still in the legislature, I would have co-sponsored HB 199. Much of my time in the legislature was spent on pollution issues. In the town of Swanzey, for example, well contamination from MTBE leaking underground at a single gas station has resulted in an unusually high number of cancer cases and rendered homes unsaleable. PFAS is a similar contaminant and in some ways even more obviously dangerous. When Saint Gobain operated its PFAS factory in Bennington, Vermont, on humid days swimming pools near the plant would have a green PFAS film on their surfaces and that same PFAS would fall on the ground. As PFAS has very low viscosity, the next rain would immediately add it to the water table. Cancer cases were common in the area. When Vermont told Saint Gobain they would be shut down if they didn’t put scrubbers on their smokestacks, the company made it clear that if Vermont insisted on this they’d simply close the facility and move production to New Hampshire. Which is what they did. When in the legislature I concluded NH’s Department of Environmental Services was not sufficiently proactive. The fact that Saint Gobain, knowing that it was a polluter, simply decided to move production to New Hampshire suggests that Saint Gobain, and probably other polluters, came to the same conclusion. I’d like to think things have changed but have my doubts. Extending the Statute of Limitations to twenty years makes us a little less welcoming to polluters. Removing the Statute of Limitations entirely would send a much more effective message. Polluters who know they’re polluters should be made to understand that New Hampshire doesn’t want their business. James W. McConnell 42 Monadnock Highway North Swanzey, NH 03431