Town’s former health officer alleges confrontation over attempted lead inspection
By Daniel Sarch, Granite State News Collaborative
FARMINGTON — Farmington School Superintendent Giselle Pomeroy has been charged with two misdemeanor offenses: simple assault and obstructing government administration.
Arraignment is scheduled April 6 at 7th Circuit Court in Rochester.
The charges, filed by the Strafford County Attorney's Office, stem from an incident last September at Valley View Community School involving Mark Ekberg, Farmington's then-health officer. Ekberg had arrived at the school to check on the installation of a new oil storage tank, as well as the status of lead filters that had previously been installed.
According to an incident report filed by Ekberg, when he visited the school, he spoke with staff and, after leaving the building, sought to speak with the food service director. As he tried to reenter the school, he said Pomeroy confronted him.
The superintendent was “yelling at me, demanding that I leave the building,” adding that she told him he didn’t have the right to be in the building and shouldn’t be there, he said in the report.
Ekberg claimed Pomeroy told him he could not be in the school while students were present, but he told her she was preventing him from doing his job as health officer. After he protested that he was being denied access to the school, he suggested that she put her claims in writing. Ekberg said she ignored that request and alleged that she shoved him out of the building.
Multiple requests for comment from the superintendent’s office were met with no response.
However, Joel Chagnon, chair of the Farmington School Board, issued a statement that reads: “The Farmington School Board supports our Superintendent. She was directed to remove the former building inspector from the property due to his constant harassment and threatening of school staff and for making inappropriate and unsettling comments to cafeteria personnel. We trust the judicial system will justify the actions taken to protect our schools.”
Assistant County Attorney Shawn Lampron, the prosecutor in the case, told the Granite State News Collaborative, “My office doesn't file charges unless we believe we can prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Contentious relationship
Ekberg, who was fired in December from his jobs as Farmington’s health officer, building inspector and code enforcement officer, has had a contentious relationship with town officials, much of it because of his insistence over rules enforcement, he said.
When he was removed from his jobs in December, he was notified that the decision was based on a pattern of insubordination. Reasons stated in the notification letter included imposing “after-the-fact” fines that the board of selectmen determined he had no authority to levy. (At a selectboard meeting on Sept. 29, 2025, Ekberg said the fees were a “response to unpermitted work.”)
The letter also claimed that Ekberg entered a property after the landowner refused to allow access. Ekberg refuted that claim, stating he had the right to enter as health officer after he noticed a huge pile of old trash bags — “it was at least 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet tall. … As health officer, I have the ability to try to find out if there is a health concern.”
After appealing his firing, Ekberg received another notice, signed by Selectboard Chair Gerald Vachon, denying the appeal. In that notice, additional grounds for termination were provided — including claims that Ekberg worked overtime without pre-approval and that he failed to identify or report concerns about permitting and inspection oversight software used by the town.
“Either of these bases would be sufficient to terminate your employment with the Town,” the notice read.
But Ekberg claimed he was fired for a reason other than those provided: to halt his investigation into the lead filters. He said that without him, there is no mechanism to bring the schools into compliance.
“I was removed as health officer in regards to the schools and in regards to the schools only,” Ekberg said.
Requests for comment from the Farmington Selectboard and town administrator were not immediately returned.
State oversight
According to Ian Atwell, manager of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services’ Get the Lead Out of Drinking Water program — which provides funding and support for dealing with and remediating lead in schools and child care facilities around New Hampshire — said the school acted when he contacted officials after Ekberg raised the issue.
“When Mark Ekberg raised these concerns in late September, I think we confirmed that, within a week, all the filters that we were questioning were changed out,” Atwell said. “The facility took reasonable action, so we were comfortable with that response.”
Atwell also said records detailing the replacement and installation of the filters were available on request, but felt that was not necessary after the district remediated the issue.
State law requires all licensed child care programs and schools to complete three rounds of testing at least six months apart. The third round of testing was conducted at Henry Wilson Memorial School on June 23, 2025. Third rounds were conducted at Valley View Community School on March 22, 2025, and Farmington Senior High School the day after.
According to Atwood, the non-enforceable health goal is for the level of lead in drinking water to be zero because it is so toxic and can be harmful to human health, even at low exposures. But the action level for the program is five parts per billion, which is lower than the national standard of 15 parts per billion. Data results on the program’s website show that all water sources in Farmington that sampled above five ppb were remediated.
“I think it would be accurate to say that [Farmington is] in a similar spot to a number, if not the majority, of other facilities across the state,” Atwood said.
While Ekberg said he’s glad that the school is now in compliance, he feels the way he was treated during his inspection suggests that, if he hadn’t pushed the issue, students could have been at risk.
He also said that, even though he is fighting multiple battles with the town of Farmington, proper enforcement is worth the time and effort.
“I'm the one that has to look at myself in the mirror every day,” he said. “This is a huge ethical dilemma when it comes to lead in the schools, which is why I'm not dropping that torch.”
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