Update: Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics To Close Merrimack Facility

MERRIMACK, NH — A major, controversial regional employer is closing.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in Merrimack announced to its employees Wednesday it would be shuttering the plant to restructure its composite solutions business in the United States.

The decision, the company said, came “after careful consideration and strategic evaluation of what is best for achieving Saint-Gobain’s core business goals and is in line with the company’s mission and plan.” In a statement, the company thanked its employees for their hard work and commitment. The company said it would be supporting its employees during the transition.

“Alternative roles and relocation assistance will be offered to eligible employees who wish to remain with the company,” the statement said. “Support packages will be made available to those who will not continue.”

More importantly, the company said it would “work closely” with state environmental officials on the “ongoing environmental investigation and remediation effort” while continuing to provide bottled water and “permanent alternate water, as appropriate, within the consent decree area.”

For years, the factory has been mitigating per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination of water wells in Merrimack and around the region, including Amherst, Bedford, Hudson, Litchfield, and Londonderry.

Democrats in Merrimack said the closure notification was a long-awaited decision, but the harm done to many people would not be rectified any time soon.

“No family should be subjected to chronic, serious illness at the hands of a negligent and greedy corporation polluting our drinking water — but in Merrimack, that has been our reality,” state Rep. Wendy Thomas, D-Merrimack, said. “We have refused to stay silent as we watched our friends and neighbors become sick and struggle to pay the bills for cancer treatment, well testing, filtered water, and even veterinary care for poisoned pets.”

Thomas said she and others would remember all the residents “who have died a needless death and those who have been made sick as a direct result of PFAS poisoning.” She added, “While Saint-Gobain’s closure could not spare their pain, we hope our continued work bringing awareness to PFAS in our water, landfills, private wells, and consumer packaging can prevent future suffering in New Hampshire communities.”

State Rep. Nancy Murphy, D-Merrimack, said, that while they were celebrating the closure, she asked, too, for others to “consider offering safe employment to individuals who have served this company over the years and now may find themselves out of a job.”

State Rep. Rosemarie Rung, D-Merrimack, called the closure “an important step to halting the environmental and health assault on Merrimack from Saint-Gobain” and called Gov. Chris Sununu to ensure the company “does not leave town without a fund in place to clean up the mess they are leaving.”

Gov. Chris Sununu said the state “stands ready to assist employees affected by the facility’s closure.” He added, “As a large employer and taxpayer, the impact of the closure will be felt in many areas of the local community, but rest assured all remediation measures will continue pursuant to applicable laws and court orders.”

House Majority Whip Jeanine Notter, and state Reps. Bill Boyd, Robert Healey, Tim McGough, and Maureen Mooney, all Republicans, said the company was leaving “behind a wake of long-term negative environmental and public health issues, and a legacy of collateral damage that will be felt by Merrimack and the region for years to come.” The closure also did not absolve the company from the responsibility they have to remediate its pollution.

“Our focus is now redoubled as we continue the environmental clean-up and promptly address its aftereffects,” they said. “This effort includes assisting displaced workers in finding new opportunities throughout our community and ensuring that Saint-Gobain is held accountable past their current agreements to filter wells 4/5 until 2025.”

The representative said they will “remain vigilant” in holding the company responsible and accountable “for polluting our water, our soil, and our air and will continue to work with our local, community, state, and federal leaders to ensure that Merrimack receives the best possible outcomes from Saint-Gobain to fix the mess they created.”

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