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Advocates challenge permit for Manchester’s wastewater system, citing PFAS concerns

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Advocates challenge permit for Manchester’s wastewater system, citing PFAS concerns


An advocacy group is challenging a permit for Manchester’s wastewater treatment system that state regulators approved in May, saying the system could be releasing levels of PFAS chemicals into the Merrimack River that go against state standards.

In an appeal filed by the Conservation Law Foundation, lawyers say New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services did not consider whether the wastewater facility’s permit complied with a state standard meant to protect fish, and the people who eat them, from toxic chemicals.

While the federal Environmental Protection Agency was considering the permit, the Foundation asked them to include stronger limitations on PFAS chemicals entering the plant from industrial sources and on the chemicals coming out of the plant.

In the permit issued by the EPA and approved by New Hampshire officials, the plant is required to test for PFAS and report the levels of those chemicals coming in and going out in the effluent they discharge into the Merrimack River. It also requires testing of the levels in sludge — the solids that are separated out from wastewater and, at the Manchester plant, burned in an incinerator.

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“The purpose of this monitoring and reporting requirement is to better understand potential discharges of PFAS from this facility and to inform future permitting decisions, including the potential development of water quality-based effluent limits on a facility specific basis,” federal regulators said in a fact sheet about the permit.

There’s no current requirement to limit PFAS that comes out of the facility. Jillian Aicher, a fellow at the Conservation Law Foundation, said that’s a problem.

“People in Manchester and in surrounding communities deserve clean water,” she said. “Clean, fishable and swimmable water is what the Clean Water Act and New Hampshire state standards call for.”

In their appeal, the Conservation Law Foundation says when state officials approved that permit, they considered the state’s numerical PFAS standards but ignored a “narrative” standard that says surface waters, like the Merrimack River, must be free from toxic substances that injure animals, fish and humans or accumulate in edible aquatic life.

Aicher says she’d also like to see the City of Manchester regulate industrial sources that contribute to the accumulation of PFAS chemicals in the wastewater treatment system.

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The Manchester wastewater treatment plant, like others across the state, collects the PFAS chemicals that are widely present in the environment. They don’t add PFAS to the wastewater, but they process it in a way that changes the chemicals that are already there. That means wastewater exiting the facility can test higher for PFAS than the wastewater entering the facility.

Manchester’s plant receives hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater per day from industries that have historically been connected with PFAS contamination, including manufacturers, cleaning companies, and hospitals. It also processes landfill leachate, which has in some cases been found to have high levels of PFAS.

New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Christopher Aslin said the New Hampshire Department of Justice was reviewing the appeal and would represent the state’s Department of Environmental Services in the case.

The City of Manchester did not respond to requests for comment.

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New Hampshire

Missing motorcyclist found dead after crash in Shelburne, NH

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Missing motorcyclist found dead after crash in Shelburne, NH


A New Hampshire motorcyclist who had been missing since the Fourth of July was found dead in Shelburne late Thursday night.

State police say they received a request from the Berlin Police Department just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday for help locating 41-year-old Wesley Grondin — the Berlin man was last seen riding his motorcycle on Saturday, July 4, and had been reported missing.

Troopers received a call a couple of hours later, around 10:10 p.m. Thursday, from a concerned resident who had been out looking for Grondin along Route 2 in Shelburne. The person told police they had found Grondin dead, along with his Harley Davidson.

According to state police, a preliminary investigation determined that Grondin was riding his Harley on Route 2 westbound in Shelburne when, for reasons that remain under investigation, he crossed over into the opposing lane, struck a post, and came to a final rest in the wood line.

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The crash is believed to have occurred just before midnight on July 4. At this time, police say there’s no indication that another vehicle or person was involved.

All aspects of the crash remain under investigation, however. Anyone with information that may assist investigators is asked to contact Trooper Hunter Newsham at Hunter.P.Newsham@dos.nh.gov.



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Nashua, NH, woman jailed for falsifying marriage to claim late man’s estate

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Nashua, NH, woman jailed for falsifying marriage to claim late man’s estate


KEENE, N.H. — A Nashua woman who had a town clerk falsely certify a marriage that never happened so she could claim her late partner’s property has been sentenced to seven days in jail, placed on probation and ordered to repay thousands to his estate.

Attorney General John Formella said Wendy Leedberg‑Snow, 60, turned to Winchester Town Clerk Jim Tetreault after the death of her longtime partner, Eric Leedberg — who was born in Lowell — using the falsified license to pose as his spouse and lay claim to property from his estate, an effort prosecutors describe as an attempt to rewrite the couple’s history for financial gain.

“This case involved a deliberate effort to manipulate official government records and exploit the death of a loved one for personal financial gain,” Formella said in a press release announcing the sentencing. “Our vital records system depends on honesty and integrity, and those who seek to corrupt that system will be held accountable. I want to thank the investigators and prosecutors whose work ensured justice for the victim’s family.”

According to Leedberg’s obituary, he was 53 when he died on Oct. 12, 2023, following a two‑year battle with cancer.

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In the obituary, Leedberg-Snow is described as his “significant other.”

Prosecutors said Leedberg‑Snow moved quickly after his death, relying on Tetreault’s signature to fabricate a marriage that never occurred and position herself as Leedberg’s surviving spouse.

Tetreault, who was a New Hampshire justice of the peace at the time, falsely signed the marriage license claiming he had officiated the couple’s wedding. He later admitted he never performed any ceremony for Leedberg‑Snow and Leedberg and had no personal knowledge of them ever being married.

Leedberg‑Snow used the fraudulent certificate to obtain property from Leedberg’s estate, including a pickup truck and trailer, and later attempted to influence a witness connected to the scheme.

Leedberg‑Snow pleaded guilty in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene to felony counts of solicitation to commit vital records fraud, title fraud, theft by misapplication of property and witness tampering.

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In addition to her seven‑day jail term, she must serve two years of probation, pay $4,600 in restitution, return the truck and trailer to Leedberg’s estate and comply with a suspended three‑and‑a‑half‑ to seven‑year prison sentence, which means the sentence only takes effect if she violates the conditions of her probation.

Tetreault, who continues to serve as Winchester’s town clerk and “fully cooperated with the State’s investigation,” according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty in April to notarial misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of a negotiated plea, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of vital records fraud. He was sentenced to 90 days in the house of corrections, all suspended for two years on good behavior, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine plus a $240 penalty assessment.

He resigned his commissions as a justice of the peace and bail commissioner and agreed not to seek recommissioning as a justice of the peace or notary public during the two‑year suspension period.

Tetreault could not be reached for comment at his office number.

Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

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Rescue Crews Help Injured Woman Off Mt. Washington

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Rescue Crews Help Injured Woman Off Mt. Washington


SARGENT’S PURCHASE – On Saturday, personnel from multiple rescue crews teamed up to help an injured woman get off of Mt. Washington to seek medical treatment.

At approximately 7:45 AM, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers were notified that a staff member at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Lakes of the Clouds Hut had taken a serious fall at the hut and was left unable to walk.

Fish and Game subsequently mobilized search and rescue personnel to come and help evacuate the young woman from her remote location.

By 10:00 AM, members of the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team (AVSAR), Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue Team (Pemi), AMC and Fish and Game had gathered at the Base Station of the Cog Rail. The Cog Railway generously donated room on their trains, and rescuers and equipment were given rides up Mt. Washington to the West Side Trail, which allowed for a shorter and less strenuous 1.6 mile hike than other routes.

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By 11:20 AM rescuers were at the hut with the patient. The patient was subsequently packaged in a litter and prepared for an overland carryout back to the Cog tracks.

Rescue personnel made steady progress, and by 2:15 PM had made it back across West Side Trail and to the train tracks. A Cog Railway train picked up the whole rescue party and brought everyone back down the mountain. Once roadside, the patient was evaluated by personnel from Twin Mountain Fire and Rescue.

She was ultimately driven from the scene by a friend and went to Memorial Hospital in North Conway for further evaluation
and treatment of multiple injuries related to her fall. The patient was identified as Cali Turner, 26, of Willimantic, Maine.

Fish and Game would like to thank all of the people and organizations involved in this rescue effort. Through the help of everyone, the rescue was a great success and got done in a timely manner.

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