Benjamin Berke v. Department of Environmental Protection (SPR 20191117)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 12, 2019 SPR19/1117 Chris Voss Records Access Officer Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection One Winter Street Boston, MA 02108 Dear Mr. Voss: I have received the petition of Benjamin Berke of the Brockton Enterprise appealing the nomesponse of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Mr. Berke requested documents relating to a 2012 oil spill at an identified property. Claiming to not yet have received a response, Mr. Berke petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that a representative from the Department has identified responsive records and intends on proving a written response to Ms. Berke. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Berke with a response in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Berke may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Benjamin Berke One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us