Lead Testing for School Drinking Water (Franklin Town Clerk) • MuckRock

4 Communications
2 Files

Communications

From: Eesha Pendharkar

03/28/2018

Subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Lead Testing for School Drinking Water (Franklin Town Clerk)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

1. A list of all schools under the jurisdiction of this agency.
2. All results for individual lead testing conducted by your town/city on drinking water in schools under the jurisdiction of this agency since January 1, 2017.
3. All meeting minutes or communications - including but not limited to memos, emails, notes, and analytical reports - regarding:
a. the decision to decline MA DEP assistance - technical or otherwise - for the testing of school drinking water
b. levels of lead found in water used by schools under the jurisdiction of this agency since 1 January, 2017.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection database for school drinking water testing for lead, public schools within this town did not volunteer for the state's assistance program, which offered free testing to schools.
(For reference: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/water/drinking/testing-assistance-for-lead-in-school-drinking-water.html)

Please provide this information on a rolling basis or contact me at eesha@bu.edu if you have any questions at all about the contents of this request.

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 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Eesha Pendharkar

From: Muckrock Staff

04/06/2021

Subject: RE: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Lead Testing for School Drinking Water (Franklin Town Clerk)

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Massachusetts Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 28, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

From: Franklin Town Clerk

04/07/2021

Subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Lead Testing for School Drinking Water (Franklin Town Clerk)

Good Morning,

We are in receipt of your email/public information request and are working
to collect the information. I will follow up once that information is
ready to be transmitted.

Thanks
Doug

Douglas Martin, P.E.

Water & Sewer Superintendent

Franklin Department of Public Works

257 Fisher Street

Franklin, MA 02038

O: 508-520-4910

*See Your Water usage with* WaterSmart Web Portal
<https://franklinma.watersmart.com/>

-------------------------------------------------------

This email is
intended for municipal / educational use only and must comply with the Town
of Franklin and Franklin Public School's policies and state/federal laws.
Under Massachusetts Law, any email created or received by an employee of
The Town of or Franklin Public Schools is considered a public record. All
email correspondence is subject to the requirements of M.G.L. Chapter 66.
This email may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole
use of the intended recipient. Any review or distribution by others is
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From: Franklin Town Clerk

04/09/2021

Subject: Re: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: Lead Testing for School Drinking Water (Franklin Town Clerk)

Good morning,

Please see our response to the public information request below.

A list of all schools under the jurisdiction of this agency.
1.

F. X. O’Regan Early Childhood Development Center (located within the
Oak Street Elementary School & Horace Mann Middle School)
2.

Davis Thayer Elementary School
3.

Jefferson Elementary School
4.

Helen Keller Elementary School
5.

John F. Kennedy Elementary School
6.

Oak Street Elementary School
7.

Gerald M. Parmenter Elementary School
8.

Horace Mann Middle School
9.

Remington Middle School
10.

Annie Sullivan Middle School
11.

Franklin High School
2.

All results for individual lead testing conducted by your town/city on
drinking water in schools under the jurisdiction of this agency since
January 1, 2017
1.

I have Resulted from 2016 (attached). We tested Bright Horizons and
Prospect Hill Country Day in 2018, but those are not under the Town's
jurisdiction. We are planning on sampling the F. X. O’Regan Early
Childhood Development Center this fall under our next required round of
lead and copper sampling.
3.

All meeting minutes or communications - including but not limited to
memos, emails, notes, and analytical reports - regarding:
1.

the decision to decline MA DEP assistance - technical or otherwise -
for the testing of school drinking water
1.

The Town does not have any records related to the decision to
decline MA DEP assistance. Sampling was conducted in May 2016 at the
schools in which all lead and copper samples that were collected were
either non detect or below the action level.
2.

levels of lead found in water used by schools under the jurisdiction
of this agency since 1 January 2017.
1.

Attached are the results from 2016 and the required town-wide
sampling of 30 single family residential sites and 2 school
sites conducted
in between July 2018 and September 2018.