By News release
Four seacoast lawmakers—Representatives Mindi Messmer, Renny Cushing, Phil Bean and Mike Edgar—today asked the office of New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald to investigate the use of $5 million in state funds that was intended to clean up the Coakley Landfill Superfund site.
The request came following a media report over the weekend that the “Coakley Group Got Millions for Work it Never Did.” The Seacoastonline report chronicled how the Coakley Landfill group received millions of dollars to build a pump and treat system at the superfund site to prevent toxins from migrating but never completed the work for which it received funding.
Two weeks ago, the same group of legislators requested the Attorney General investigate the Coakley Landfill Group to determine if the entity was in violation of state laws governing charitable trusts. The Charitable Trust Unit of the AG’s office is currently reviewing that previous request.
“We think it is unconscionable that millions of dollars in taxpayer funds have made their way to Coakley Landfill Group to clean up the dumpsite by installing a pump and treat system, which CLG never did, and now the site is leaking toxins that threaten public health and drinking water. We need to know where the money went. We are hopeful that the Attorney General can get the answers from CLG about its financial dealings that we as legislators are unable to get,” said Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hanpton.