In thousands of communities across the country, drinking water is contaminated by a dangerous “forever chemical” linked to serious medical conditions. Residents in affected communities, such as Laurene Allen in Merrimack, New Hampshire, looked to federal investments to remedy the water pollution.
![Laurene Allen stands before her garden.]()
Laurene Allen is pictured in August 2022. (Photo credit: Laurene Allen)
When Laurene learned that the water in her small New Hampshire town was polluted with dangerous levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), she was shocked but motivated to be a voice for her community. Laurene co-founded Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water to inform the community of the health and environmental effects of these so-called forever chemicals and work with elected officials to find solutions to clean their water supply. Through her advocacy, Laurene kept encountering the same obstacle: A lack of funding prevented the state government from implementing real solutions. But that changed once the Biden administration enacted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), allocating $10 billion to remediate harms in communities affected by PFAS. With the influx of federal funding, New Hampshire communities will finally have clean water.
In March of 2016, I learned my town’s water that we drank, cooked with, showered in, and gave our pets was contaminated with PFAS chemicals. After six years of fighting for a solution, we finally have some hope with the infrastructure bill.
Laurene Allen
The IIJA answers the cries of communities affected by unsafe drinking water. By investing billions of dollars to remedy polluted water supplies and replace lead pipes, millions of Americans will finally have access to clean water.
Read more stories on how recent legislation has benefited Americans
This collection features stories from people in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire whose lives have been improved by the legislation passed during the Biden administration’s first two years.