Massachusetts DEP Announces Online Availability of Paper Files Relating to Contaminated Sites

Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. - Massachusetts Environmental & Land Use Alert, 2010

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) announced that it is making available online all public documents relating to the 40,000 sites reported under the state cleanup program since 1987. This includes hard-copy reports submitted to DEP and related correspondence prepared by DEP, but excludes non-public information such as private financial or enforcement-senstive information.

As of January 1, 2010, MassDEP has scanned most of these files, and has begun uploading these files onto the MassDEP website. MassDEP’s goal is to post all the files online by the middle of 2010. Reports filed after January 1, 2009 are required to be submitted electronically, and are available on the MassDEP website almost immediately.

More information is available on the MassDEP website at http://www.mass.gov/dep/service/online/filerev.htm. For further information, please contact Jeanine Grachuk at jgrachuk@bdlaw.com.