The board of directors for the Pease Development Authority, a New Hampshire organization involved in developing port operations in the state, have approved the extension of a contract to Grimmel Industries, headquartered in Maine, to allow the scrap metal recycling operation to operate at the state of New Hampshire’s port.
The authority awarded the company a lease extension despite complaints by residents of Portsmouth, N.H., over dust that spread from the scrap facility to local neighborhoods.
According to local press reports the New Hampshire Division of Ports and Harbors worked with the state Department of Environmental Services to address concerns of the residents. The division produced a port that noted “exposure to iron oxide has little or no adverse health effects, and the iron oxide is not classified as a human carcinogen.”