Cape & Islands News

Barnstable County man in critical condition after possible bat bite

First case of human rabies in Massachusetts since 1935

A Barnstable County man in his 60s is hospitalized and in critical condition after contracting rabies.  It is the first case of human rabies in the Commonwealth since 1935, according to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

Although awaiting confirmation from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the man most likely contracted rabies through a bat bite.

Rabies is treatable if caught before symptoms show, but almost impossible to cure after. According to the DPH, it is possible to be bitten by a bat without even knowing it, especially while sleeping.

Rabies was first discovered in bats in the Bay State in 1961, according to the DPH. If you are bitten or scratched by a wild animal, you should wash the wound thoroughly and contact your doctor to determine if treatment for rabies is necessary.

The Department of Public Health's website includes several important tips if you or your family come in contact with a bat or other wild animal.  Click here for details and here for instructions on capturing bats.

State health officials have yet to release the man's name.

Strip off the parka and take the plunge this New Year

Several area fundraisers are planned for the New Year

Freeze your behind off for a good cause

New Englanders and Cape Codders more specifically are a hardy bunch.  Some even tough enough to take to the waves in winter.  If you've got the mettle, you might consider jumping in and supporting one of the following worthwhile but teeth-chattering charity events:

2nd Annual Polar Plunge for Yarmouth Seniors: This event will be held on Sunday, January 1 at 12 noon at Bass River Beach in South Yarmouth. Proceeds from the plunge benefit the Yarmouth Senior Center which provides a variety of services to over 3,000 Yarmouth elders each year.  Last year, $5,000 was a raised at the inaugural plunge.

This year, a team of Yarmouth police officers, including Chief Frank G. Frederickson will join town officials and participating residents as they take the plunge. Donations of $25 to $100 may be made to the Yarmouth Council on Aging. For more information, contact Senior Services Director Karen Marciante at 508-394-7606 or kmarciante@yarmouth.ma.us. A pre-plunge gathering with hot chocolate and cookies will be held at the beach.

King Neptune forged on as some were already heading back to shore at last year's plunge in Harwich benefiting ASCCI. Photo by John Foster.

3rd Annual Polar Bear Plunge to Benefit Alzheimer's Services of Cape Cod & the Islands: Started in 2010 by Belinda Bachand in 2010 to honor her father, Marvin Nadler, this Harwich plunge will be held at 12 noon on Sunday, January 1 at Bank Street Beach in Harwichport. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m., adults and children are encouraged to take part. Over 250 attendees and 75 brave swimmers participated in last year's event raising over $3,500 for Alzheimer's Services of Cape Cod and the Islands. This year's proceeds will benefit ASCCI in the way of free support services and respite grants for families served by ASCCI.

Pledge sheets are available on the ASCCI website here or by calling 508-775-5656. A donation of $20 is suggested. The top fundraiser will receive a prize! There will be warm refreshments and treats available at the plunge. Following the plunge, participants will gather at the Land Ho in Harwichport.

The New Year's Day Plunge: This New Year's Day Plunge will be held at Millway Beach in Barnstable at 3:30 p.m. The event benefits the Glenna Kohl Fund. Donations may be made to: Glenna Kohl Fund, PO Box 23, Cummaquid, MA 02637. The Glenna Kohl Funda is dedicated to making everyone aware of the dangers of melanoma and the importance of early detection and prevention. Visit the organization's website here.

Not-So-Polar Plunge: If you aren't according to the Cape Codder Resort & Spa, "brave enough or crazy enough" to jump into the ocean in January, the No-So-Polar Plunge at the resort on Sunday, January 8 at 9:30 a.m., might be just your speed. For $25, you can take a plunge in the new, heated outdoor rainbow falls poll that is open year-round at the Hyannis resort on Bearse's Way.  Take the plunge, change in the locker room, then enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate at the Hearth n' Kettle. A donation of $10 is requested for spectators. 

All proceeds benefit the Housing Assistance Corporation on Cape Cod. Pre-registration is required by calling 508-771-3000 ext. 1. Visit the Cape Codder Resort & Spa website here.

Did we miss your Cape Cod plunge? Email us here and we'll add it!

Cape Wind's Jim Gordon on Fox Boston Friday

Jim Gordon chats with Fox Boston's VB about the recent SCJ ruling and more

The Cape Wind Project: Impact on the Ratepayers: MyFoxBOSTON.com

On Friday morning, VB interviewed Cape Wind President Jim Gordon at Fox Boston's Beacon Hill Studio. The two discussed the SJC's recent ruling in favor of Cape Wind, the many battles Cape Wind has won and the future of the country's first offshore wind farm on Nantucket Sound.

Video courtesy of MyFoxBoston.com.

Brewster resident, Cape Cod native, Nathaniel Quinn, dies at 39

On Friday, the Cape Cod Times printed the death notice for Nathaniel Quinn of Brewster. According to the notice, Mr. Quinn died on Tuesday, December 27. He was 39-years-old.  On Tuesday, his wife, Kellie asked for the help of friends and fellow Cape Codders in the search for her husband who had been missing since Monday.

On Facebook.com Tuesday, it was reported that Mr. Quinn's SUV was found in the High Head area of the National Seashore in North Truro.  An inquiry sent to the Truro police regarding a reported search of the area for Mr. Quinn was not answered.

As of late Tuesday the request for help in finding Mr. Quinn was removed from Facebook.com and soon replaced with notes of sympathy for Mrs. Quinn and her family, although Mr. Quinn's death was not confirmed until today. Mr. Quinn of Brewster, was a native Cape Codder and a lobsterman.  The circumstances of his death are not officially known at this time.

According to the notice in the Times, funeral services will be announced at a later time.

SJC affirms DPU-Cape Wind power contract approval

Supreme Judicial Court decisions clear path for Nation’s First Offshore Wind project
Justice Botsford says DPU review was “thorough’’ and “considered’’

In the wake of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s rulings today upholding the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities’ approval of a long-term power purchase agreement between the Cape Windoffshore wind project and electric utility National Grid, Cape Wind President Jim Gordon said, “We’re hoping that within about a year we’ll be able to start construction to finally make homegrown renewable energy.”

Gordon continued, “This project has been under development for over 10 years and is taking far too long.” He noted that Europe and Asia are “installing thousands of wind turbines off their coastlines as a way of meeting their environmental and economic challenges.”

Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) issued the following statement from Sue Reid, VP and director, CLF Massachusetts:

“Conservation Law Foundation welcomes today’s decisions by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reaffirming the DPU’s finding that Cape Wind is imperative to meeting the Commonwealth’s clean energy objectives and that its costs are reasonable in light of all the benefits it will deliver,” said Sue Reid, VP and director, CLF Massachusetts. “The Court’s rulings confirm what CLF, NRDC and Clean Power Now have long asserted—that Cape Wind’s benefits to the Commonwealth outweigh its costs. Cape Wind’s ability to generate substantial quantities of clean energy close to areas of high demand—making it more advantageous than distant energy projects being proposed—is just one of the many benefits contributing to the Court’s findings that the project’s costs are reasonable. In validating the DPU’s decision, the SJC has provided objective validation of the facts making the case for Cape Wind, and has cleared one of the last remaining hurdles for the nation’s first major offshore wind project to move forward.”

Another major setback for the anti-wind farm group

“Based on the record, the department ultimately found that National Grid demonstrated that it had complied with the new, nongeographically limited statute and regulations in its negotiations with Cape Wind.”
          - Justice Margot Botsford.In what is a major blow to the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound (APNS), the Supreme Judicial Court today gave its blessing to a novel power purchase agreement between Cape Wind and National Grid which had been approved by the state Department of Public Utilities.

In the 34-page ruling written by Justice Margot Botfsford, the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously rejected all the arguments advanced by the Alliance, and Justice Botsford added there was no violation of the federal commerce clause because the state had lifted its limitation that only allowed it to review power sources within the state.

Botsford repeatedly called the DPU review of the agreement between Cape Wind and National Grid “thorough’’ and “considered’,’ and added that it was consistent with state law requiring public utilities to purchase 3 percent of their energy from alternative sources.

Cape Most Wanted man is mostly dead

Most Wanted Osterville man has been dead for a decade
Died in Mexico after release from prison for child abuse

A few weeks ago we ran a story about the state's most wanted parole felons, two of whom were from Cape Cod and listed on the "Massachusetts Most Wanted" list.

It turns out that only one was from the Cape. The other, Robert Sieracki, has been dead nine years and wasn't able to respond to the AG's request to show up for his hearing.

Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section has learned from his relatives that Sieracki has been dead since 2002.

After Sieracki got bail he traveled to Mexico where he was convicted on similar child abuse charges and sent to prison. Shortly after his release from a Mexican prison, he was found dead, and Mexican police reported Sieracki had died of natural causes.

Here's the report.

ROBERT FRANCIS SIERACKI
Age: 71
Last known address: Osterville, MA

 Sieracki was charged as a convicted sex offender after being found guilty of fondling a boy at a Cape Cod amusement center. Authorities say Sieracki has a history of working with children, and has two cases of indecent assault and battery on a child in two different courts.

• WANTED FOR: Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child. Court: Barnstable Superior (9784CR071257)
• WANTED FOR: Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child. Court: Barnstable District (not a probation case) (9025CR008443)
• FBI Number: 267583S7

Robert Francis Sieracki is a white male, 5'8", 225 lbs., with hazel eyes and red/auburn hair. He has used the alias Robert Sierachi.

See the WANTED poster here (PDF).

Municipally-owned utilities offer service and lower rates

Long shot investment of 100 years ago pays big benefits today
But can it be duplicated in this century?

By Teresa Martin

The wind howls. The snow blows. The hurricane spins through. Trees and branches litter the ground. Three days later, there's still no power. What's a community to do?

Patrick Mehr of Lexington points to his neighboring town, Concord. "Ten years ago we in Lexington were unhappy with our service and there was also strong interest in moving wires underground. We called Concord and said 'how come NSTAR does such a good job in Concord?' And they said, they don't. We do. And that's when we learned about muni utilities," he said.

"We called Concord and said 'how come NSTAR does such a good job in Concord?' And they said, they don't. We do." - Patrick Mehr of LexingtonMehr became such a believer that he currently leads the Massachusetts Alliance for Municipal Choice which advocates for legislative reform to allow new municipal utilities to form.

High service, lower rates

Municipal utilities - owned and operated by the towns - provide a high level of service at typically lower rates than an investor-owned utility (an IOU, in energy-speak). Proponents, including some on the Cape, point to munis as the way to go.

There are 251 publicly-owned electric and gas utilities in the US; 41 of those are in Massachusetts including Concord, Hingham, Hull, Middleborough, Mansfield, Taunton and Braintree.

But there's a rub. Those 40-some munis in Massachusetts were set up a century ago, when power was young, populations were sparse, and infrastructure meant a small number of poles and a bit of wire.

A smart bet

For the towns that took the leap, providing municipal service played out as a great bet.

Mehr articulated three key reasons that munis can outperform investor-owned utilities (IOUs), but they can all be summed up in two words: community investment.

Investment in infrastructure

The muni track record, he said, shows that locally-owned and run utilities invest decade after decade to make their networks sturdier. Instead of squeezing out every last possible moment of spark in a transformer, munis tend to upgrade and update their infrastructure.

That directly translates into more reliable power, he said. With fewer undersized transformers and more underground wires there is less loss to begin with - whether from storms or rodents munching on wire.

Investment in staffing

Munis also invest in staffing. He shared statistics showing that muni utilities have 47% more lineman per population served than IOUs. When power goes out in a storm that make a big difference.

"They were good workers. But that's not the issue. For two days they didn't show up at all because they didn't have enough workers." - Patrick Mehr"When NSTAR did show up, it [the outage] was fixed fast," he admitted. "They were good workers. But that's not the issue. For two days they didn't show up at all because they didn't have enough workers."

Investment in local knowledge

The third differentiator between munis and IOUs lies in local knowledge. In a muni, he explained the workers know every street. When something happens, they know where to go and what they will find. But with an investor-owned utility, people are moved around as outages and issues arise and don't have that level of very specific and very local knowledge of place.

When you combine the elements, you end up with a system better equipped to keep the lights on and bring them back on fast.

A Cape muni?

Joe Soares, senior power supply planner at Cape Light Compact agrees with all that. He even says the Cape would be wonderful for a municipal lighting plant, something that could only work as a regional entity.

"Here we're at the end of the line and physically we have water all around us," he noted. "From a geographic standpoint it would be perfect."

But we can't replay history

But -- and herein lies the issue -- municipal utilities were set up in the early days of power. Back when poles and wires were being strung for the first time.

"Small communities didn't want to get left by the wayside," he said. "They could negotiate to buy poles and wires in their town."

And they could make the purchase, because numbers were small and the owner was likely to be a smaller local business. It was logistically and financially possible.

Just over forty towns in Massachusetts made the decision to manage electrical infrastructure. The most recent town to make the leap was the Town of Chester in 1927, when it acquired the Chester Electric Light Company.

What makes a muni?

Munis own their own power wires, provide electricity, and are responsible for maintaining their distribution systems. They range from large cities to small communities. All have a lighting board overseeing the activity. Middleborough Gas & Electric is one nearby example.

"It is public power in the truest sense in that the people in the town own the poles and wires." Joe Soares, Cape Light Compact"It is public power in the truest sense in that the people in the town own the poles and wires," explained Soares.

Future for more muni pending

Current legislation, H3087 and S1525, wants to open the doors for new munis in this century.

The legislation is supported by many municipalities, MASSPRG, and groups like Patrick Mehr's Massachusetts Alliance of Municipal Electric Choice. The bills attempt to remove barriers to municipal ownership of power.

High points

The bills touch on several issues that have limited the launch of munis over the past century.

Currently, if a town wanted to go into the utility business, the current provider can just say no. So the bills stipulate that a fair value can be determined for existing power infrastructure, that the Department of Public Utilities would confirm the values of a utility's assets if a municipality proposed purchasing them, and if a town put forth a valid offer, the IOU would be required to accept.

The proposals also change franchise zones, enabling a municipality to purchase franchise rights within its geographic boundaries.

By ensuring a utility is fairly compensated and can't just turn down an offer outright, says Mehr, critical barriers to munis moving into the utility business will be eliminated. The result, he said, will be lower prices and better services.

Not so simple

Soares, however, pointed out that the reality could be quite different. First, of course, the municipality and the utility would have to agree on a value.

"Bridging that gap is not easy and it would likely take years," he said.

"Then," he said, "you'd have to agree to go out and borrow money to pay for the poles and wires and then our rate payers would have to pay for that."

While current munis do indeed charge lower rates than their investor-owned counterparts, the same might now be true for a new muni, which would be carrying the capital costs of the poles and wires, the operating costs, and the debt overhead.

Then, of course, labor and service continuity come into play. How do pensions transfer? How do people transfer? How do union contract transfer? And how does this impact rates?

The devil is always in the details, but it seems that if the Cape were to pursue a region-wide municipal utility, the region could probably build a third bridge from the mountain of details that come with the process with no guarantee of cost savings.

More than costs

Mehr said cost is not the only issue. Moving wires underground and investing in future improvements are important issues in his town. Becoming a muni provider becomes an issue of control of infrastructure, as well cost and service.

In addition, munis across the country have been the first to embrace 21st century infrastructure as well, adding fiber and telecomm services to the list of muni-managed resources.

Lafayette LA, for example, has successfully leveraged its muni electric organization into a fiber and telecomm provider that has in turn driven economic development in the city.

Is there a window of opportunity?

Few industries are more complex than power. When munis began, generating power, delivering power, and managing customers was far more simple and the complexity of the muni utilities were able to grow over time.

In the intervening century, regulation, the 1997 restructuring legislation, and a host of other mandated actions created a power playing field that requires deep pockets and deep expertise.

Political decisions pushed power into the realm of the private sector, which rewards return on investment rather than social or community returns in the form of lower rates. The original munis formed during a window of opportunity, when the market enabled different models to thrive.

But Mehr says the pending bills could change this.

Bill could drive change, but not necessarily new munis

"If and when competition is possible, it should exist," Mehr said. "The whole point of this legislation is to increase competition. Just like a utility could now be sold on the open market, a muni could now buy a utility. In California there is a company in the business of running third party networks, " he added.

But he admitted that the bill was unlikely to lead to a wave of municipalities dashing off to go into the power business. "You need deep expertise to do this; towns need this knowledge to start on this path and to spend on this," he cautioned.

"Our philosophy with this bill is to rectify a piece of state law which has become totally obsolete. It costs hundreds of millions dollars annually to MA. It is inefficient," he said. "The whole point isn't necessarily to create a 42nd muni, but the sheer existence of the potential for competition could even push NSTAR and other to improve."

Additional sources:

• Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC)
• Bill H.869
• Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy

Teresa Martin is a well-known Cape Cod technology and business leader who served as  C.E.O. of the Cape Cod Technology Council and was a founder and officer of the OpenCape Corporation, which is dedicated to fixing the Cape's dropped cell calls and upload issues. Read Teresa's tech blog, Cape Eyes on CapeCodToday.com here.

Masonic Angels place five IFAW computers at D-Y

Donations help schools use their funding more effectively

The Laptops for KidZ project of the Masonic Angel Foundation has placed the last of the nine computers donated by Yarmouth-based International Fund for Animal Welfare. This article is part of an exclusive CapeCodToday.com series that follows each of “IFAW 9” computers. This story concerns the five desktops IFAW donated along with four laptops.

Laptops for KidZ was introduced to IFAW through a partnership with Cape and Islands United Way.

Established in March 2010, Laptops for KidZ (LFK) places computers with local schools to be sent home with children who would not otherwise have computer access outside school hours. LFK has placed 236 computers since April 2010. Machines are provided to schools absolutely free of charge, with local Masonic Angel Fund chapters underwriting the very low cost to refurbish and license the machines.

While LFK’s primary mission involves placing laptops with individual students, they do accept donations of higher-end desktop computers which can be used for specialized tasks. In August IFAW donated five excellent Dell Optiplex GX260 desktops complete with LCD monitors, keyboards and mice. Since LFK makes every effort to place a donated computer in the town from which it was donated, the five IFAW desktops were placed at various locations within the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District. The desktops will be used for classroom instruction.

In a recent letter to the Masonic Angel Foundation, DY Director of Technology Chris Machado told the Masons, “Thanks to your generosity, we are able to use our funding more effectively to support technology in our schools.”

“IFAW’s computers are always excellent,” said LFK project director Mario Meré of Yarmouth Port, “Their hardware is always powerful, well-maintained and looks like it’s brand new.” Once LFK receives the machines, volunteers wipe/overwrite the hard drives and load a new Windows “citizenship license” which is made available to LFK by Microsoft at a drastically discounted price. LFK computers are configured with OpenOffice, Adobe Reader and Avast! anti-virus software. Laptops also receive the Amazon Kindle reader PC software, the Barnes & Noble Nook application for Windows and Adobe Digital Editions. The three reading apps allow students to borrow library books to be read on their computer as well as to access Amazon’s and BN’s large library of free e-books.

LFK accepts functional notebook computers. "Functional" means that it will power up. Machines should have at least a Pentium 4 processor and must bear a valid Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 certificate of authenticity. LFK generally does not accept donations of desktops or any Apple product whatsoever. Donations to the 501(c)(3) Masonic Angel Foundation, Inc. are tax deductible.

For more information about the Laptops for KidZ program visit www.laptopsforkidZ.org.

Read more about the IFAW 9 here:

• IFAW donates nine computers to Laptops for KidZ
• Masons place second of nine computers donated by IFAW at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School
• Masons place third of nine computers donated by IFAW at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School
• Masons place fourth of nine computers donated by IFAW at Mattacheese Middle School

Saab story

Saab and Vonnegut are now both history, Sully lives on driving a Toyota

By Walter Brooks

Kurt Vonnegut (left) and Steve Sullivan both have a Cape Cod Saab story to tell.

Kurt sat in his Saab to write short stories.We have written many times about our favorite satirist, Kurt Vonnegut, who lived in West Barnstable when we first moved to Cape Cod.

And one of my best friends, Steve Sullivan of West Brewster, has been a Saab auto enthusiast for decades, and they both have a Saab story to tell

But Vonnegut and Saab are gone, so I'll tell you about Kurt's experience with that once popular Swedish car.

Steve has since switched to Toyota after owning many Saabs. Kurt ended up hating Saabs, but Steve loved them until the end.

Back in the late 1960's Vonnegut, my wife and I were on a Cape Cod committee to organize a group to protest the Vietnam War, and weirdest of all, Vonnegut was then the Cape's only Saab salesman.

Kurt was yet to be the luminary he became after Slaughterhouse Five was published, and he made a living mostly by writing short stories for the long-gone Saturday Evening Post which became Welcome to the Monkey House. He'd write the stories sitting in his Saab parked on Route 6-A with a "For Sale" sign on it. Ironically, Bill Breisky was then an editor atthe Post before became a newspaperman, bought a Connecticut weekly and later became the editor of the Cape Cod Times.

Vonnegut was a great writer and a lousy car salesman.

His Saab sales skills were such that he wrote the following:

Have I Got a Car for You!

I used to be the owner and manager of an automobile dealership in West Barnstable, Massachusetts, called “Saab Cape Cod.” It and I went out of business 33 years ago. The Saab then as now was a Swedish car, and I now believe my failure as a dealer so long ago explains what would otherwise remain a deep mystery: Why the Swedes have never given me a Nobel Prize for Literature. Old Norwegian proverb: “Swedes have short dicks but long memories.”

Listen: The Saab back then had only one model, a bug like a VW, a two-door sedan, but with the engine in front. It had suicide doors opening into the slipstream. Unlike all other cars, but like your lawnmower and your outboard, it had a two-stroke rather than a four-stroke engine. So every time you filled your tank with gas you had to pour in a can of oil as well. For whatever reason, straight women did not want to do this.

The chief selling point was that a Saab could drag a VW at a stoplight. But if you or your significant other had failed to add oil to the last tank of gas, you and the car would then become fireworks.

Read the rest here. 

Read all about Kurt here.

AG sues Osterville firms for contamination; Rifkin's Rockin' Santa

TODAY's quote:  "I am looking out of my office window,
and I just don't see anything spinning except this piece today." - Christy Mihos.

Attorney General Coakley sues Osterville firms for contaminated property

"Rockin' Santa"

The irrepressible (but who would want to) Paul "Protest Anyone?" Rifkin took this photo of "Rockin' Santa" sunning in front of Nelly's Suits You Swimwear on Route 132 in Hyannis yesterday.

AG asks $50,000 a day penalty

The Massachusetts Attorney General's office has filed a lawsuit asking the court to require Frank M. Ward and his businesses, Seaview Associates LLC and Dunhill Place Associates LLC, to pay a civil penalty of up to $50,000 per day, per violation of the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act and the Massachusetts Contingency Plan.

AG Martha Coakley's suit states, "The purchase and redevelopment of contaminated properties promotes economic growth and revitalizes communities.

"Developers and property owners must comply with Massachusetts laws to ensure that those properties present no significant risk to the public, neighboring property owners and the environment."

AG Coakley’s lawsuit alleges that Ward helped his son and his son’s business partner purchase the already contaminated property in 1998 and 1999.  Following the redevelopment of the property into a new gasoline station and two commercial buildings in 2000, Ward’s son and his business partner transferred the entire property to Ward’s company, Dunhill Place Associates, in 2004. Ward again transferred the property to Seaview Associates, another one of his businesses, in 2007. 

The complaint alleges that Ward and his businesses had failed to timely complete the required assessment and cleanup actions for approximately six years. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) had issued an order requiring that work be completed by August 2007. He also failed to provide accurate information as to the owner of the property.

The two locations at 792 and 804 Main St. in Osterville operated as a gas station, automotive repair shop and residence between 1928 and 1999, according to the lawsuit.

The contamination was discovered in 1989, when a company hired by the previous owners, Hubbard Oil Company Inc., detected that fuel had leaked from underground gasoline storage tanks.

One of the properties in Osterville at 804 Main Street.MassDEP Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell said, “Failure to fulfill your legal obligation to clean up a contaminated site is a serious offense.

"Submitting inaccurate documents to a government agency  brings that offense to an even more serious level.""MassDEP relies on the integrity of these reports to ensure that cleanup is performed in a timely and adequate manner.

"We will work with the Attorney General’s Office to uncover practices like those alleged in this case.”

Source.