By Darrell Halen

State environmental officials have ordered a company to conduct a site investigation after levels of nitrate exceeding safe drinking water standards were found in several wells near the company’s blasting operation off Ledge Road in Windham.

Meadowcroft Development  LLC was ordered by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to have the investigation completed by March 31.

The study, which would be conducted by a qualified expert, is intended to assess the full extent of the groundwater contamination and develop a plan for remedial action. DES has determined that Meadowcroft may be responsible for the contamination. Following complaints by several neighbors, Meadowcroft voluntarily ceased blasting and the town hired StoneHill Environmental Inc., to test wells in the vicinity of its site.

During a Monday, Dec. 10 meeting, hydrogeologist Tim Stone told selectmen that some of the samples taken by his company revealed nitrate levels higher than the acceptable standard of 10 milligrams per liter: 130 on the blasting site, 62 in its supply well, 60 at a nearby business, and samples at four houses on Haverhill Road (Route 111) that ranged from 17 to 58.

Meadowcroft has been ordered by DES to provide bottled water to the affected property owners.

About 25 residents attended the meeting, many of them wearing orange stickers that read: “Support a Safe Windham.”

“We are here to try to work through a solution that is best for you and your greater community,” Selectmen Chairman Alan Carpenter told them.

Several residents previously complained that the blasting, which began last year, has shaken their houses, and has caused water to smell bad and be discolored.

Meetinghouse Road resident Joanne Vignos said that for 14 years there was no discoloration in her water. Six weeks after the blasting began, she said, her water drastically went bad and iron levels “went through the roof.”

DES has recently sampled 20 wells and the results will be included in the investigation.

High levels of arsenic have also been found in some area wells.

Brandon Kernen, a DES hydrologist, said blasting won’t be allowed to continue at the Meadowcroft site until the investigation determines what caused the contamination, there are remedies in place to fix it and it’s determined how to prevent the situation from happening again.

Dave Gordon, a DES health risk assessor, said nitrate can affect the ability of the body to carry oxygen. Those who are most susceptible are pregnant women, infants and people who suffer digestive disorders.

Meadowcroft plans to build a business park at the blasting site.

Rich Wissell, who soon turns 65 and lives on Haverhill Road, said he planned to retire next year and sell his property.

“How in the hell am I going to sell my home when you can’t drink the water?” he asked selectmen.

Wissell said another resident with bad water is a “prisoner” in his own home – trapped because he can’t sell his property.