Aquifer protectors remain determined

Contrary to a published report, supporters of the proposed aquifer protection ordinance say they have no intention of slackening their efforts to persuade voters to endorse it at the polls on March 14.

"No way are we backing off," said Charles Boucher yesterday. "We feel strongly that this has to be done, and done this year." Boucher chairs the Drinking Water Protection Committee.

John Goodhue, chairman of the Conservation Commission, echoed Boucher. "By no means have we backed off," he said. "We want to see it passed this year."

The ordinance has been challenged by Cumberland Farms, Inc., which plans to build a gas station and convenience store on property purchased from Public Service Company of New Hampshire at 1434 Lakeshore Road within the proposed aquifer protection district. The ordinance would forbid the underground storage and transmission of "refined petroleum products," including gasoline and diesel fuel.

Noting that virtually all the most heavily developed commercial areas of town would fall within the aquifer protection district , Boucher pointed out that only Cumberland Farms has raised objections to the ordinance. "What they are looking for is to stall it for a year and get their tanks in the ground in cheaply as possible," he said, explaining that if underground tanks were installed before the adoption of the ordinance, they would be "grandfathered" as "pre-existing non-conforming uses" and allowed to continue.

Attorney Steve Nix, who drafted the ordinance, commented that apart from the parcel acquired by Cumberland Farms several other properties within the proposed district, including Sawyer's Dairy Bar, were either rumored for sale on the market. He suggested that if the ordinance failed this year, other properties could be acquired and developed as gas stations under the existing zoning ordinance that would permit the installation of underground storage tanks above the aquifer.

Nix agreed that by prohibiting underground storage tanks altogether the proposed ordinance was relatively stringent. He explained that the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) administers regulations and specifications for installing, operating and monitoring underground storage tanks. However, the state delegates the authority to protect aquifers to municipalities through local zoning ordinances. About 60 municipalities have adopted aquifer protection ordinances, of which some have prohibited underground storage tanks while others permit them in accordance with the regulations and standards set by DES.

Those, like Nix, who favor requiring refined petroleum products be stored above ground, stress visibility. "If they're underground, they are out of sight and out of mind," Boucher said. He acknowledged that underground tanks can be contained in vaults and monitored for leaks, he said that experience indicated that leaks went undetected because employees failed to perform regular checks or misread the measurements. "If it's above ground, you can see it," said Nix. "It's that simple."

Nix said that the strict standard was appropriate for Gilford, where "the aquifer is directly connected to the lakes. If the aquifer gets polluted, the lakes get polluted," he declared. "That makes Gilford unique." Jim Tarr of Applied Geo Systems in Laconia has mapped the boundaries and monitored the quality of the "Black Brook aquifer," beneath the Cumberland Farms property. "The aquifer is already contaminated," he said, explaining that he believes petroleum products from residential and commercial sources, including the Getty station on Lakeshore Road, had reached the groundwater. Nix stressed that the "Black Brook aquifer" feeds the brook, which empties into Paugus Bay not far north of the intake pipe for Laconia's municipal water supply.

The aquifer protection ordinance is one of a dozen amendments to the zoning ordinance that voters will find on the ballot when they go to the polls on March 14.