Matthew B. Sicheri v. Cambridge, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20250388)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 13, 2025 SPR25/0388 Seah Levy Records Access Officer Office of the City Solicitor City of Cambridge 785 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Ms. Levy: On February 10, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the City of Cambridge (City) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, it is my understanding that the City furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Matthew Sicheri, Esq., of Sbaiti & Company PLLC. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On January 28, 2025, Attorney Sicheri requested the following: 1. The name of any and all Water Companies or Departments that service the following address(es) from 04/21/1995 to 04/21/1998[;] 2. Any and all investigative reports, investigative files, testing on groundwater or water systems, or information obtained or created as it relates to Per-and- Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid, Perfluorooctanoic Acid, GenX, or other “Forever Chemicals” within the boundaries of your jurisdiction from the beginning of time through present; 3. Any and all counsel meetings, department notices, electronic communications, or available information exchanged within the town departments as it relates to Per-and- Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid, Perfluorooctanoic Acid, GenX, or other “Forever Chemicals” within the boundaries of your jurisdiction from the beginning of time through present; 4. Any and all notices, warnings, or awareness information sent to individuals within your jurisdiction about the dangers or harmful effects of Per-and- Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid, Perfluorooctanoic 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

Seah Levy SPR25/0388 Page 2 February 13, 2025 Acid, GenX, or other “Forever Chemicals” within the boundaries of your jurisdiction from the beginning of time through present; 5. Any and all information, tests, investigative reports, and the results thereof as it relates to the following water sources within the boundaries of the municipalities’ jurisdiction: agricultural runoff; construction site runoff; cooling tower discharge; desalination effluent; drainage water; fracking or oil and gas extraction water; groundwater; industrial water; irrigation return flow; landfill leachate; mining discharge; municipal water; private well water; reclaimed or recycled water; reservoir water; saltwater intrusion areas; sediment water samples; snowmelt water; stormwater runoff; surface water; water system pipelines; and wastewater; 6. Any and all results upon the aforementioned water sources in request No. 5 from the following types of tests within the boundaries of the municipalities: physical; chemical; biological; radiological; specialized contaminant, soil, and sediment; and toxicity; 7. Any and all results upon the aforementioned water sources in request No. 5 from the following specific analytic Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) methods within the boundaries of the municipalities: 537, 537.1, 533, 8327, and 1633; and 8. Any and all results from any and all targeted and non-targeted analyses of water, sediment, and soil within the boundaries of the municipalities. Petition for an Extension of Time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c).

Seah Levy SPR25/0388 Page 3 February 13, 2025 If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) must provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current Petition In its petition, the City requests “40 business days, and potentially additional days, to respond to the attached Public Records Request from attorney Matthew B. Sicheri” and provides the following information in support of its request: The City estimates that the response to this request will require ninety-five (95) hours of work in order to locate, transmit, copy, review and redact the records as required by law. Additionally, there are four items of this request where the City has requested additional information in order to be able to fulfill the request, and which may require additional substantial amounts of time in order to produce responsive records. The additional time requested is necessary to respond to such a large undertaking. This request will require the City of Cambridge Water Department and Law Department to devote a substantial amount of time to a single public records request, to the detriment of other requesters, as well as the day-to-day duties of various staff members and their departments. In light of the need to collect, segregate, and examine the records, as well as the capacity of the City to produce the records without an extension, the City has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(iii). The City is granted an extension of 30 business days for these requests. Conclusion As described above, I find that the City has established good cause for a time extension of 30 business days. Please note, Attorney Sicheri has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10(d)(iv)(4), 10A(c).

Seah Levy SPR25/0388 Page 4 February 13, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Matthew Sicheri, Esq.