Engineering and Safety Inspection and Complaint Records for Newtonville Commuter Rail Station (Department of Transportation)

To Whom It May Concern:

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

1) A full record of all safety and engineering inspections, scheduled and unscheduled, that took place at the Newtonville MBTA station between 1 January 2009 and the date that this request was processed, including the following data points:

1A) The name of the inspector(s), OR a unique identifier, such as an employee ID, that can be used to establish common patterns of behavior between inspections,
1B) All details, recommendations and warnings related to the stairways at both the EAST and WEST entrances of the Newtonville MBTA station, including whether they were inspected visually or by instrumentation, as well as the maintenance and repair of the concrete platforms and wooden slat fences separating the platform from I-90.
1C) Any relevant safety or engineering baselines concerning the safe use, maintenance and repair of the EAST and WEST stairways or their component materials, such as an acceptable degree of "lean" or "tilt" (ex, a 5 degree limit), a maximum weight rating, maximum capacity, conditions in which the stairs would be considered unsafe to use (e.g, snow, ice, etc)
1D) Detailed specifications on the types and quality of materials used in the construction, reconstruction and repair of the EAST and WEST stairway platforms of the Newtonville station, including the type of wood, whether it is pressure-treated, sealed, the type and rating of steel used for the lifts, etc.

2) All complaints, both internal and those received from the public, regarding maintenance and upkeep of the Newtonville MBTA station. Names or personally identifiable information of complainants should be redacted.

3) Any internal "whistleblower" reports mentioning the Newtonville MBTA Commuter Rail station

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,

Robert Bono