The 13th Step

Introducing “Safe to Drink:” A New Hampshire town finds out its water has been contaminated by a chemical. The most basic question — whether the water is safe to drink — doesn’t have a clear answer. Nobody seems to know much about this so-called forever chemical, which is weird because… this has all happened before.

From the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio, "Safe to Drink" is a four-part series about the water contamination story that keeps repeating in town after town — and about the people who fought for answers through a maze of chemistry, regulations, and illnesses.
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Federal prosecutors now say the vandalism scheme was Eric Spofford’s idea all along. Spofford appears in federal court, and Lauren explains what this remarkable moment means for her and her sources.
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A federal judge sentences Eric Labarge, the man who pled guilty to orchestrating the vandalism in retaliation for our reporting on Labarge’s friend, Eric Spofford. Lauren explains what went down in the courtroom – and how she navigated the experience as both a journalist and a victim of this crime.
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New Hampshire lawmakers consider a new oversight bill proposed in response to the podcast. And the judge issues his final ruling in Eric Spofford’s defamation lawsuit against NHPR and three of our sources.
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Federal prosecutors have charged a fourth person in the vandalism case, a man they describe as a “close, personal associate” of Eric Spofford.
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