BY NICHOLAS BROWN

After a two-year study in the Suncook Village area, the state Department of Environmental Services reported that a nearby coal power plant is not causing air pollution that would cause health problems.

The study was sparked by a 2001 petition submitted to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry by a Suncook Village resident, and concluded that the area’s ambient air quality continuously met national quality standards.

Of concern was the Merrimack Station coal power plant in Bow, which sits in the western banks of the Merrimack River, about a mile away from the Suncook Village. The plant, which kicked off operations in 1968 and is now operated by Public Service of New Hampshire, is the largest of its kind in the state, the DES study said.

Based primarily on readings from an air monitoring point on Exchange Street, the DES concluded that the air in the village routinely had safe levels of three pollutants: sulfur dioxide, ozone and fine particulate matter.

This most recent study, released on Thursday, March 8, in a 74-page report, follows a 2003 study which determined that levels of sulfur dioxide and coarse particulate matter were “unlikely to result in significant adverse health effects.”

The recent study did find specific times when outdoor pollutants did reach levels that could affect asthmatics or other “sensitive groups.”

Sulfur dioxide levels were highest in the Village when strong northwest winds would blow in the winter months, and “ozone events” and fine particulates were most noticeable in the summer months during times of southerly winds.

When ozone levels are high, the DES study suggests, “Active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.”