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The expansion of water quality laws and liability concerns over contaminated property are increasing the amount of environmental assessments being conducted in the region, buoying the growth of the state's largest private lab, Resource Analysts Inc.
The Hampton Falls Company is riding a crest of environmental concern. Headed largely by University of New Hampshire graduates, the lab conducted more than $1.5 million in soil, water and waste ash tests last year, and is growing at an annual clip of 80 percent. Half of its business is done in the New England states outside New Hampshire and the vast majority for corporations such as Fairchild Semiconductor, Monsanto and Digital Equipment Corp.
"Water is headed in the same direction as energy in the '70s," said David N. Pease, president of RAI. "More people are realizing water quality is a real issue. Ours is a rapidly growing field with a lot of repeat business, particularly in the areas of legal requirements and liability."
The state recently certified RAI under its new certification program for private water labs, which the N. H. Legislature approved last year after it realized that consumers and business would need some guarantee for the reliability of millions of dollars of environmental testing conducted by private and municipal labs. RAI is only one of four private labs in N.H. certified under minimum requirements set...