Gas leaks policies and data - Middlesex County (Mayor's Office)
| Submitted | Jan. 5, 2017 |
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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.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Alan D. Mandl
Dear Mr. Lipton:
Attached is the National Grid 2016 Gas System Enhancement Plan as filed with the DPU
and downloaded by the City.
Sincerely,
Alan Mandl
Alan D. Mandl
Assistant City Solicitor
City of Newton
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton, MA 02459
Tel: (617) 796-1240
Email: amandl@newtonma.gov
When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and therefore cannot be kept confidential.
From: Alan D. Mandl
To: Beryl Lipton
Dear Mr. Lipton: The above public records law request was just received by the Law Department and assigned to me this afternoon.
I will be searching today for documents responsive to your request for "any ordinances, policies, procedures, or related materials regarding:
* the necessity of gas companies to report 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
As far as your request for "data acquired from the Department of Public Utilities regarding gas leaks within this municipality, I have attached is gas leak data submitted to the DPU by National Grid for the year ending December 31, 2014.
The DPU receives a hard copy that cannot be edited and that is what the City is able to obtain from the
DPU. Newton locations are identified as NEW and are interspersed.
I should be able to locate and send you the DPU report for yearend 2015. These gas leak reports
are submitted by National Grid as part of a very voluminous service quality report mostly unrelated to
gas leaks and not Newton-specific. The annual gas leak data as of December 31, 2016, will be filed by National
Grid by March 1st. In addition, National Grid has been filing annual "gas system enhancement plans"
with the DPU. These are voluminous. The City has what the DPU posts on its website. These GSEPs identify
locations where National Grid has 1-5 year plans to replace leak prone infrastructure. I will send you GSEPs
today. No charge for locating and sending you these DPU materials.
The City will not waive fees for the costs of searching for and making available the number of documents and information that you have requested.
The information requested to the extent that it exists resides within several different departments with which I will need to work. Your requests are not limited to any specific time frame. Can you let me know how far back in time you are requesting information? That will help in estimating the costs involved.
It will take other City employees and me significant amounts of time to even be able to provide you with a cost estimate.
Do not hesitate to contact me regarding your requests.
Sincerely,
Alan Mandl
Alan D. Mandl
Assistant City Solicitor
City of Newton
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton, MA 02459
Tel: (617) 796-1240
Email: amandl@newtonma.gov
When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and therefore cannot be kept confidential.
From: Alan D. Mandl
Dear Mr. Lipton:
Attached is National Grid's 2015 Gas System
Enhancement Plan as filed with the DPU and
downloaded by the City.
Sincerely yours,
Alan Mandl
Alan D. Mandl
Assistant City Solicitor
City of Newton
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton, MA 02459
Tel: (617) 796-1240
Email: amandl@newtonma.gov
When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and therefore cannot be kept confidential.
From: Alan D. Mandl
Dear Mr. Lipton:
Attached is National Grid's 2017 Gas System Enhancement Plan as downloaded from the DPU website.
There are sections pertaining to Newton and other communities that cover scheduled and projected gas facility replacements for which National Grid
is seeking accelerated cost recovery.
Sincerely,
Alan Mandl
Sincerely,
Alan Mandl
Alan D. Mandl
Assistant City Solicitor
City of Newton
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton, MA 02459
Tel: (617) 796-1240
Email: amandl@newtonma.gov
When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and therefore cannot be kept confidential.
From: Alan D. Mandl
Dear Mr. Lipton:
With regard to your request for "Any and all directive materials and data regarding the location and repair of gas leaks within this municipality"
and "ordinances, policies, procedures, or related materials" can you let me know if your request is limited to City of Newton materials and data?
Thanks,
Alan Mandl
Alan D. Mandl
Assistant City Solicitor
City of Newton
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton, MA 02459
Tel: (617) 796-1240
Email: amandl@newtonma.gov
When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and therefore cannot be kept confidential.
From: Alan D. Mandl
Dear Mr. Lipton:
Attached is an August 26, 2015 memo that I prepared regarding gas leak issues, the role of the DPU
and the then current gas leak-related activities of several City departments that interface with National Grid.
The City has no direct oversight of National Grid and cannot mandate requirements for the reporting, surveying
or repair of gas leaks. Since this memo was prepared, there have been some improvements in dealing with
National Grid. I considered this memo as material related to mandating requirements for the reporting, surveying
or repair of gas leaks.
Sincerely yours,
Alan Mandl
Alan D. Mandl
Assistant City Solicitor
City of Newton
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton, MA 02459
Tel: (617) 796-1240
Email: amandl@newtonma.gov
When responding, please be aware that the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined that most email is public record and therefore cannot be kept confidential.
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