Great Bay Initiative I-93 Widening

From its majestic White Mountains, to its many lakes and rivers, to the critically important Great Bay estuary, New Hampshire is a place of stunning beauty and rich natural resources.

Yet, in the summer months, air pollution plagues the mountains, obscuring views and making breathing difficult. Acid rain carries sulfur dioxide and mercury that pollute the state’s waters and make fish dangerous to eat. Sprawling development brings big box stores and strip malls that alter the state’s character. Ever-expanding highways promote car-dependent development. Stormwater runs off of parking lots and roads, carrying salts and toxic substances that pollute rivers, streams and wetlands. Balancing development and the preservation of the state’s natural resources is a powerful challenge.

Since 1966, CLF has been working to create a healthier, greener New Hampshire.

CLF's current New Hampshire initiatives and cases include:

• Great Bay Initiative: Pursuing strategic opportunities to protect New Hampshire's critically important Great Bay Estuary in an ongoing, multi-year campaign.
• I-93 Widening: Calling upon NHDOT to develop a balanced, long-term transportation solution that limit impacts to air and water quality, and that promotes more sustainable, less sprawling development in southern NH.

 New Hampshire accomplishments and victories:

• Stopped construction of three coal-fired power plants in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and forced smog-reducing technology at Merrimack Station, New Hampshire's dirtiest power plant.
• Worked to ensure that small municipal separate storm sewer system in New Hampshire and Massachusetts are regulated by EPA in a meaningful way that protects water quality.
• Convinced the EPA to require the more stringent wastewater treatment for the Portsmouth Sewage Treatment Plant along NH's Piscataqua River.
• Reached a settlement with New Hampshire's Department of Transportation that resulted in significantly reduced impacts to wetlands while allowing DOT to proceed with improvements to relieve traffic concerns in the Keene area.
• Encouraged sustainable downtown development as an alternative to sprawl by spearheading the creation of the New Hampshire Downtown Revitalization Coalition, with a mission to identify and advocate strategies aimed at strengthening and enhancing city and town centers.