New Hampshire Gets $1.8 Million PFAS Settlement for Public Water Systems

New Hampshire has received a $1.815 million payment from BASF Corporation as part of a nationwide PFAS settlement, and the money will be deposited into the state’s Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund.

Attorney General John Formella announced the Phase 1 payment on July 14, 2026. The announcement was republished by The Rochester Post on July 28. The funds may later be distributed to qualifying public water systems for projects that address PFAS contamination, but the payment does not automatically assign money to every system or community.

What changed

The payment is New Hampshire’s Phase 1 Action Fund share of a $316.5 million nationwide class-action settlement involving BASF and public water systems that detected PFAS in drinking-water sources. In its settlement notice, BASF described the agreement as part of federal multidistrict litigation involving aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF.

The New Hampshire Department of Justice and Department of Environmental Services asserted claims for eligible public water systems in the state. Under the state announcement, the BASF payment will be placed in the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund under state law and used to support PFAS mitigation.

Who may benefit

Qualifying public water systems may be eligible for financial assistance for projects such as treatment, water-system improvements or connections to larger public supplies. Eligibility, applications and award decisions must follow state guidance and the applicable settlement terms.

Residents should not assume that the BASF payment will immediately lower water bills, begin construction or guarantee funding for a particular project. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund will administer the funds through the applicable state and settlement processes.

Part of a larger PFAS response

The BASF payment is one piece of New Hampshire’s broader effort to respond to PFAS contamination. The attorney general’s office says the state has received more than $35 million from PFAS settlements so far, including agreements involving 3M, DuPont-related companies and Tyco entities. Additional settlement payments are expected through 2033.

The settlement proceeds should not be confused with the state’s entire PFAS response budget. The New Hampshire Bulletin reported that state and federal PFAS response spending has exceeded $223 million in less than a decade. That broader figure includes multiple funding sources and infrastructure efforts, not settlement payments alone.

How mitigation money can be used

A July 8 Governor and Executive Council agenda item illustrates the type of infrastructure that PFAS-related funding can support. The agenda included a request to authorize a federal grant of up to $1.213 million for Coach Run Condominium Association in Nashua to finance an interconnection with a larger public water supply to remediate PFAS.

That Nashua item was listed for Governor and Executive Council action and is not treated here as a completed award. It shows how PFAS response funds may be used to connect affected properties to a public water supply, but it does not establish which systems will receive money from the new BASF payment.

Earlier settlement funding has also been directed toward public drinking-water needs. WMUR reported in 2025 that New Hampshire deposited an initial payment from the 3M PFAS settlement into the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund, with additional payments expected under that agreement.

What residents should watch next

The next important steps are administrative. Residents, public water systems and local officials should watch announcements from NHDES and the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund for eligibility rules, application instructions, award notices and project timelines.

Those records will show which systems qualify, how much money is awarded, what work is approved and whether projects reduce PFAS levels or improve access to treated water. The BASF payment increases resources available for that work, but it does not by itself identify the communities that will receive funding or when construction will begin.

Sources

• New Hampshire PFAS settlement announcement
• July 8, 2026 Governor and Executive Council agenda
• New Hampshire Bulletin PFAS funding report
• WMUR report on New Hampshire’s 3M PFAS settlement payment