Staff News
Ian Atwell started as our new, part-time Get the Lead Out of Drinking Water Program Manager in August 2023. Ian brings over 16 years of experience working with New Hampshire Public Schools and is in charge of overseeing the three rounds of water testing that approximately 1,500 schools and child care facilities must complete per New Hampshire’s Prevention of Childhood Lead Poisoning laws enacted in 2018 and 2022. NHDES oversight of this program includes outreach, training, coordination with the New Hampshire Department of Education and Health and Human Services, and management of state contractors for testing, remediation and funding assistance.
Richard Erausquin has joined the Information Management and Reporting section. Since earning a Bachelor of Science degree from UNH in 2020, he has worked in NHDES’ Land Resources Management Program. As our program specialist, Richard will often be the main point of contact for outside entities pursuing drinking water data. Internally, he’ll keep systems going by handling steps that cannot be automated. His impressive pace, which never steals attention from detail, will be an asset to the Bureau.
Sarah Richos has been with the NHDES Water Division for over nine years. She worked with the Land Resources Management Program before joining DWGB in the Lead and Copper Monitoring Program in July 2023. Sarah works with over 2,500 public water systems to assist them in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Her responsibilities include the implementation of data verification, updates, reporting compliance, violation determination, and rule interpretation to ensure drinking water standards are met.
Doug Sayer is our newest Small System Design Review and Technical Assistance staff member as of September 2023. Doug is a geologist from the South Dakota School of Mines with experience in groundwater remediation and environmental site assessments in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Iowa. He will be working with consultants, water operators and other water system representatives to review and approve small non-community system infrastructure upgrades, such as new well sources and pump stations, and storage and distribution improvements.