Hey, it's Laura. Today we're sharing the first episode of Safe to Drink, the chart-topping podcast series from the Pulitzer Prize finalist document team at New Hampshire Public Radio.

If you listen to the fall line, you know what kinds of stories we cover. Harm that unfolds quietly, systems that fail the people they're meant to protect, and communities left to fight for answers when no one else will.

Safe to drink follows residents of a small New Hampshire town who learn their drinking water

is contaminated with PFAs, also known as forever chemicals. Officials say the water is safe. Families

getting sick aren't convinced. Hosted by NHPR climate reporter Mara Hoplamasian, the series traces what happens

when contamination is slow, science is uncertain, and accountability keeps slipping out of reach.

It's a story about institutional neglect, regulatory gaps, and the human cost of waiting.

If you're drawn to investigations that center affected communities and

examine how systems protect themselves at the expense of people, Safe to Drink is a must listen.

Before we dive into the episode, be sure to follow Safe to Drink on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Now, here's the first episode.

Ben Pierce was driving home.

He'd just dropped his kid off at daycare.

And he noticed something kind of odd.

I remember coming down High Range Road and passing one of the neighbor's houses up on

high range road and they were getting a water delivery.

Like cases and cases of bottled water.

The kind of delivery you'd see at a convenience store.

And I remember just thinking, like, wow, they really love the bottled water.

They're like, I'm surprised that they have, like, special delivery of bottled water to their house.

Ben's family had just moved to London Derry, a town in

southern New Hampshire in the summer of 2019. Now it was October. Ben was still new in town.

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