The New Hampshire House and Senate committed to protecting NH waters statewide by passing HB1454 with overwhelming, bipartisan majorities. The bill will buffer our groundwater and water bodies from predictable landfill contamination, using a common, science-based setback for new landfills.

The status quo and veto of HB1454 will ensure that chemical pollutants - including PFAS and other forever chemicals - will leak and seep to ruin lakes, rivers, and public and private wells. HB1454 ensures that new landfills will be safely sited, avoiding the gravel and bedrock formations that quickly move contaminants to nearby surface water bodies.

The vast majority of land in New Hampshire is hydrogeologically suitable for landfill siting because it lies over the type of soils that transmit groundwater slowly toward our nearby lakes and rivers. HB1454 is only a problem for developers attempting to site a landfill in the sand and gravel groundwater formations that quickly transmit toward nearby surface water bodies.

We, the undersigned supporters of New Hampshire's environment, ask that you, our legislators, vote to overturn Governor Sununu's veto of HB1454 to ensure that our state protects our precious waters—for safe drinking and recreation, for public and environmental health.