Gas leaks policies and data - Middlesex County (Dracut Town Clerk (MA))

Beryl Lipton filed this request with the Dracut Town Clerk (MA) of Dracut, MA.
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Communications

From: Beryl Lipton

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all directive materials and data regarding the location and repair of gas leaks within this municipality.

Please include any ordinances, policies, procedures, or related materials regarding:

• the necessity of gas companies to report existing gas leaks to municipal officials
• the necessity of gas companies to survey areas for the existence of gas leaks
• the necessity of gas companies to repair known gas leaks

Please also include any data, statistics, maps, and other materials detailing the location and severity of known gas leaks in the areas under the jurisdiction of this municipality. Please include any data acquired from the Department of Public Utilities regarding gas leaks within this municipality.

Please include all requests from gas companies for construction and digging related to gas leaks.

Please include all requests for repair made by this municipality to companies regarding gas leaks. Please also provide all responses.

Please provide all data, statistics, maps, and other materials regarding the decay or destruction of trees and other foliage in relation to the presence of gas leaks.

If further clarification is necessary, please contact the MuckRock office at 617-299-1832.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton

From: MuckRock

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all directive materials and data regarding the location and repair of gas leaks within this municipality.

Please include any ordinances, policies, procedures, or related materials regarding:

• the necessity of gas companies to report existing gas leaks to municipal officials
• the necessity of gas companies to survey areas for the existence of gas leaks
• the necessity of gas companies to repair known gas leaks

Please also include any data, statistics, maps, and other materials detailing the location and severity of known gas leaks in the areas under the jurisdiction of this municipality. Please include any data acquired from the Department of Public Utilities regarding gas leaks within this municipality.

Please include all requests from gas companies for construction and digging related to gas leaks.

Please include all requests for repair made by this municipality to companies regarding gas leaks. Please also provide all responses.

Please provide all data, statistics, maps, and other materials regarding the decay or destruction of trees and other foliage in relation to the presence of gas leaks.

If further clarification is necessary, please contact the MuckRock office at 617-299-1832.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton

From: Daniel McLaughlin

Beryl,

As best I can ascertain, no-one at the Town of Dracut received your 1/5/2017 request, but in any case, here are your answers:

* Neither this department, the Fire Department, the Department of Public Works or any other Town body to my knowledge, has directive material or data relating to gas leaks in Dracut. ( With the exception of gas leaks within buildings, in which case we defer to the Massachusetts State Plumbing & Gas Code. My understanding from your request is that you are only concerned with leaks in piping under the control of the utility)

* To the best of my knowledge and belief the Town has no ordinances, policies, procedures or related materials regarding gas leaks, other than to follow the advice given to the general public which is to call the utility.

* The Town does not keep data, etc. on gas leaks.

* Requests from gas companies for construction in the street in relation to gas leaks would be handled by the Dracut Public Works Dept. I have not yet heard back from them on this issue but will forward it as soon as I do.

* Again, we await a response from DPW.

* To the best of my knowledge & belief we have no records on tree decay, etc.

To summarize, as soon as I have heard from the DPW I will pass their response on to you, but no other Town entities that I am aware of have any of the records you seek.

Please feel free to call if you have questions.

Dan McLaughlin
Inspector of Buildings
Town of Dracut
62 Arlington St.
Dracut MA 01826
(978) 454-0603
Please note my new e-mail address:- dmclaughlin@dracutma.gov<mailto:dmclaughlin@dracutma.gov>

From: Jayne Boissonneault

This request was answered on January 26th. It appears we are waiting for a response from DPW. Please confirm when you have a moment.

Thank you

From: Daniel McLaughlin

Beryl,

I received a verbal response from the DPW Director, who tells me they simply don’t keep records of the type you request. They do record street opening permits which may include gas repairs. However they are not differentiated in this way, and a new public record would have to be created to do so. While he does not wish to seem unhelpful, from a staffing and budget standpoint he feels he is unable to do this.

Sincerely,

Dan McLaughlin
Inspector of Buildings
Town of Dracut
62 Arlington St.
Dracut MA 01826
Please note my new e-mail address:- dmclaughlin@dracutma.gov<mailto:dmclaughlin@dracutma.gov>

From: Beryl Lipton

Hello Mr. McLaughlin,

Thanks so much for your explanation. I understand there's no obligation to create a new record, so you may feel free to close this request, and another will be submitted if need be.

Have a lovely day,
Beryl

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