In Londonderry, Tinkham's Garage was used as a location to repair tractor trailer trucks. The site was listed in 1983 after gas and other pollutants seeped into water around the garage and then into nearby wells. The EPA assigned liability to site owners and cleanup is now virtually complete. The EPA listed the property in 1989 after subsurface contamination of the water supply occurred. No party has assumed liability for this contamination and the town continues a water testing program.
Data indicates the site poses no health or safety threat to humans or the environment.
My office is currently working with local citizens to remove the site from the National Priority List and return the responsibility for ongoing monitoring to the State. At the Auburn Road site, once the Londonderry town dump, exact records were never kept on the materials deposited there. More than 30 parties have been named potentially responsible parties since the site was listed in 1983 and are required to contribute to cleanup costs. These sites are a fraction of those listed nationwide. As of December 1996, the National Priority List contained 1210 sites across the country.