Editing Pascoag, Rhode Island (section)

==History==
The name of Burrillville's principal village, Pascoag, named after the [[Pascoag River]] upon which it is located, probably derives from an Algonquian Indian root. The Nipmuc word for snake was rendered "askug" by [[Roger Williams]] in his ''[[A Key Into the Language of America]],'' and "askoog" by the Reverend [[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]] in his Algonquian translation of the Bible.
 [[File:Wallum Lake station 1909 postcard.jpg|thumb|left|Wallum Lake station in Pascoag in 1909]]
Pascoag can trace its origins back to the first half of the 18th century, when a saw mill and other businesses were built in what is now the village center.  In the 19th century, Pascoag became a textile manufacturing town, an industry that continued until after [[World War II]]. From 1891 until the 1930s the [[Woonsocket and Pascoag Railroad]] operated trains to Pascoag, but the line (currently operated by the [[Providence & Worcester Railroad]]) now terminates in [[Slatersville]].

The horror author [[HP Lovecraft]] set part of his story "[[The Horror at Red Hook]]" (1925) in Pascoag.

Recent history includes an incident involving [[groundwater contamination]]. A test of the groundwater conducted on September 14, 2001, showed that the water contained the ether [[MTBE]] (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) at levels of over 350 ppb (parts per billion).<ref>{{cite web| url=http://pud-ri.org/index.php?fl=Articles/2001/2001-10-04.html| title=MTBE Update| publisher=Pascoag Utility District| date=October 4, 2001| access-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref> This was the first public statement concerning the presence of MTBE in Pascoag drinking water, though residents claim to have detected it as early as May 2001. MTBE is a [[gasoline]] additive intended to enhance octane levels. It is believed to have come from leaking tanks at a local [[ExxonMobil]] gas station. As the situation was resolved over the following months, nearly 1,500 residents of Pascoag responded by filing a lawsuit against ExxonMobil through the law offices of Napoli, Kaiser, and Bern and Houston attorney Armistead Easterby.<ref name=wqpmag>{{cite web |title=Pascoag Well Water Contamination Case Settled for $7 Million Against ExxonMobil |date=May 31, 2012 |url=https://www.wqpmag.com/pascoag-well-water-contamination-case-settled-7-million-against-exxon-mobil |access-date=May 31, 2019}}</ref> ExxonMobil signed off on a $7 million settlement with residents of Pascoag in May 2012, to cover the cost of having the Pascoag Public Utility District bore new wells.<ref name=wqpmag/>