The Savage Municipal Water Supply site sits in Milford, New Hampshire, where a groundwater plume stretches roughly 6,000 feet eastward from Route 101 and Elm Street toward the Souhegan River. Four industrial facilities released untreated process waste into the ground from the 1940s through the 1980s. Volatile organic compounds showed up above drinking water standards in the municipal well in February 1983, and the State ordered the well shut down immediately. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in September 1984.
Contaminants in the groundwater, soil, surface water, and sediment include volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, benzene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and various forms of dichloroethene. Heavy metals and other substances found at the site include arsenic, lead, chromium, nickel, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), and 1,4-dioxane.
The site is split into three operable units. Operable Unit 1 covers the source area and has seen groundwater extraction and treatment since 1999, soil-vapor extraction, a containment slurry wall, and multiple rounds of in-situ chemical oxidation. A 2016 Record of Decision Amendment added a permeable reactive barrier and identified a zone where cleanup goals cannot be reached in a reasonable timeframe. Following a 2021 EPA optimization study that raised concerns about contaminant mobilization from bedrock drilling, seventeen deep bedrock boreholes were sealed or converted to monitoring wells in 2021 and 2022. A Focused Feasibility Study was expected by June 2025. Operable Unit 2 covers the extended plume and ran a groundwater extraction system from 2005 to 2015, which is now on temporary suspension while EPA weighs whether monitored natural attenuation is appropriate. Operable Unit 3 addresses deep bedrock and does not yet have a final decision document.
EPA's current assessment is that no unacceptable risks to human health or the environment exist right now. Residents in the affected area receive potable water from a municipal supply. Institutional controls prohibit groundwater extraction and residential development in contaminated areas. A Groundwater Management Zone adopted by Milford in September 2021 requires written approval from the Town, EPA, and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services before anyone may use groundwater in the zone. The most recent five-year review was completed September 13, 2021, and the next is estimated between September and November 2026.
Community members with questions can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator Liz McCarthy by email or phone. Site documents are available at the Wadleigh Memorial Library in Milford and through the EPA Region 1 Records Information Center in Boston.
(NOTE: This summary was created based on all information available on the EPA's official site profile page as of May 29, 2026. To see the most up-to-date information provided by the EPA, visit the EPA's official profile page for this site. For questions, or to politely encourage the EPA keep their profile pages current, contact the EPA Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager assigned to this site.)
