Gas leaks policies and data - Middlesex County (Tyngsborough Town Clerk)
| 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: Matt Hanson
Dear Beryl Lipton,
The Town of Tyngsborough is in receipt of your public records request for
the following documents:
*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.*
Please be advised, the documents you requested are not within the
possession, control or custody of the Town. We believe those records are
available by contacting the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities,
or National Grid Gas, the town's Natural Gas provider. The Town of
Tyngsborough does not regulate the natural gas utility. The utility does
not report existing gas leaks to the municipality. When a resident has a
gas leak, they call National Grid directly to have the leak fixed. Also,
National Grid is not required to pull a permit to fix a leak in their lines
in the road or their connections to homes. We have attached a list of all
gas permit requests from out last permitting software, you will see that
the only permits are related to leaks are in homes, and not requested by
National Grid. Our Building Department Admin has attached the email
correspondence for two of those requests so you can see they were from
residents. You can see in the 31 Beech St email that the plumber informed a
resident that they needed to call National Grid regarding their leak. We do
not have electronic access to our gas permits. We have hard copies
available for review in person in you believe that would be helpful.
However, we do not believe we have any requests from national grid
regarding digging or construction for gas leaks. The attached information
is being provided free of charge. If you would like to come in to review
hard copies of all permits, you may also do that at any time free of
charge.
You have the right to appeal the Town’s response to the Supervisor of
Records in the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Public Records Division, or
to directly seek judicial review in superior court under G.L. c 66, § 10A.
Regards,
Matt
Matt Hanson
Assistant Town Administrator
Town Hall
25 Bryants Lane
Tyngsborough, MA 01879
(V) 978-649-2300 x109 <(978)%20649-2300>
(F) 978-649-2320 <(978)%20649-2320>
[image: Tyngsborough, MA] <http://www.tyngsboroughma.gov>
<https://www.facebook.com/tyngsboroughma/?ref=hl>
<https://twitter.com/TyngsboroughMA>
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