Mindi Messmer
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Mindi Messmer is a former Democratic member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in the United States, elected for one term in 2016 from Rockingham District 24 (Rye and New Castle).[1][2] She was a candidate for the 2018 Democratic nomination for New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District seat. Messmer is best known for her legislative and advocacy work on cancer clusters in New Hampshire.[citation needed] She has run a small environmental consulting business for 20 years.
Education and career
Messmer has lived in the New Hampshire Seacoast region since attending graduate school for earth sciences at the University of New Hampshire and is currently an M.S. candidate at Georgetown University in clinical and translational research, hoping to combine her expertise in environmental contaminants with an understanding of the health effects associated with these toxins.
Her professional work as an environmental consultant has focused on the evaluation, design, development, and implementation of conventional and innovative in-situ and on-site technologies for remediation of contaminated sites. She has consulted businesses, banks, and the U.S. government on the presence of environmental contaminants.
Messmer has conducted and managed projects ranging in scale from small hazardous waste site assessments and remediation design, to large remedial investigations and remedial action under a variety of regulatory programs including RCRA, CERCLA, and State Superfund.
NH House of Representatives
Her best known work has been around drinking water protection, cancer prevention, and identifying environmental factors which may have triggered a pediatric cancer cluster in New Hampshire.
Messmer serves on NH Governor Maggie Hassan’s Task Force to investigate the rhabdomyosarcoma and pleuropulmonary blastoma double pediatric cancer cluster that she identified and reported in 2014. The cluster was confirmed by the NH Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in 2016.[3] She was appointed head of the Governor’s Task Force Subcommittee to coordinate efforts with the USEPA and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) to direct the investigation into Coakley Landfill Superfund Site[4] which may be linked to the pediatric cancer cluster.[5]
Messmer's three bills signed into law in 2017 during her freshman year include House Bill 484 which established a commission on the Seacoast cancer cluster investigation, House Bill 431 which established a commission to study long-term goals and requirements for drinking water in the Seacoast area, and House Bill 511 which established a commission to study environmentally-triggered chronic illness. House Bill 485, which addressed the need for standards for emerging contaminants in drinking water was opposed by the Business and Industry Association. House Republican members from Merrimack and Hudson, New Hampshire, where the Saint Gobain corporation contaminated drinking water in three towns including Merrimack, Litchfield and Bedford, walked away from the Committee of Conference and refused to return.
In January 2017, Messmer and Rep. Renny Cushing, founders of Greenland Safe Water Action and Testing for Pease,[6] founded New Hampshire Safe Water Alliance.[7]
For the 2018 session, Messmer has authored an Anti-Hate Resolution in response to hate crimes in the state and legislation authorizing for state regulators to take action to address an imminent hazard associated with surface water contaminated by an aged Superfund Site.[8]
2018 U.S. House campaign
On November 15, 2017, Messmer announced her candidacy for the 2018 Democratic nomination for New Hampshire's 1st congressional district, following incumbent Representative Carol Shea-Porter's decision not to seek re-election.[9] She came third in the primary to New Hampshire councilor Chris Pappas, who went on to win the seat at the 2018 election.[10][11]
Electoral history
Messmer was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives for District 24 for Rye and New Castle in the fall of 2016.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mindi Messmer | 2,249 | {{{percentage}}} | |
| Democratic | Kate Murray | 2,181 | {{{percentage}}} | |
| Republican | Janet Stevens | 2,093 | {{{percentage}}} | |
| Republican | Frances Erlebacher | 1,920 | {{{percentage}}} | |
Personal life
Messmer is a longtime resident of Rye, New Hampshire, where she lives with her husband and two teenage sons.
Awards and published works
Messmer was awarded the Less Cancer Leadership Award for her work associated with Governor Hassan's Pediatric Cancer Task Force.
Messmer is the author of several publications including:
Messmer, M., et al. "I-SPY 2 Breast Cancer Trial Model as Innovation for Alzheimer's Disease Therapies". JAMA Neurology (2017); 74(9):1027-1028
Fam, S., Messmer, M., Lunt, A., Marcott, K., "Biological Reactive Wall/Enhancement of Intrinsic Conditions", In-Situ and On-Site Bioremediation, New Orleans (1997)
Fam, S., Messmer, M., Nautiyal, D., Hansen, M., "Not As Simple As It Seems", Water Environment Federation, Industrial Wastewater. 7:29 (1996)
Fam, S., Messmer, M., Nautiyal, D., Hansen, M., "Critical State of the Art Review of Vapor Extraction", Proc. Purdue Ind. Waste Conf. 50:137 (1995).
Fam, S., Pirelli, T., Sullivan, T., Findlay, M., Fogel, S., and Messmer, M., "Anaerobic Bioremediation of Chlorinated VOCs in Conjunction with Dual Extraction", In-Situ and On-Site Bioremediation, Monterey, (1998).
She is a blogger at Medium.com, and writes for the Less Cancer Journal[13]. She is a member of the National Writers Union and is the author of several academic publications.
References
- ^ "New Hampshire House of Representatives District Rockingham 24". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ "New Hampshire 24th District State House Results: Messmer and Murray Win". The New York Times. August 1, 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ McMenemy, Jeff (28 February 2016). "Pediatric 'cancer cluster' detected". Seacoast Online. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ "Coakley Landfill, North Hampton, NH". USEPA Superfund Site. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ Messmer, Mindi (14 October 2017). "My Turn: Untangling a cancer cluster". Concord Monitor. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ "Sunday Morning Civics: Seacoast Water Quality". Testing for Pease. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ McMenemy, Jeff. "Seacoast safe water advocates band together". Seacoast Online. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ McMenemy, Jeff (22 August 2017). "Rep. Messmer planning resolution condemning racism". Seacoast Online. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ "State. Rep. Mindi Messmer declares candidacy for 1st Congressional District seat". New Hampshire Union Leader. 15 November 2017.
- ^ https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/politics/new-hampshire-primary-election/index.html
- ^ https://www.politico.com/election-results/2018/new-hampshire/house/
- ^ http://sos.nh.gov/2016RepGen.aspx?id=8589964163
- ^ "Next Generation Choices Foundation". Wikipedia. 6 September 2017.