MassDEP Fines Methuen Woman $42,975 for Numerous Environmental Violations at Springfield Rental Property

 BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has issued a $42,975 penalty to Ms. Rubia Avila of Methuen for violating environmental regulations at her two-family residential rental property, located at 34-36 Cliftwood Street in Springfield. On August 26, 2012, MassDEP responded to Ms. Avila’s property in conjunction with Springfield public safety officials, to […]

MassDEP Penalizes Yankee Environmental Services of Billerica $35,625 for Asbestos Violations on Babcock Street in Boston

   BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has penalized Yankee Environmental Services $35,625 for asbestos violations that occurred during an asbestos removal project on a structure located at 278 Babcock Street in Boston.  Yankee Environmental is a Massachusetts-licensed asbestos contractor with an office at 29 Esquire Road in Billerica.  On July 26, […]

MassDEP Penalizes Waltham Demolition Contractor $41,150 for Asbestos, Demolition Violations at Old Colony Housing in South Boston

MassDEP Penalizes Waltham Demolition Contractor $41,150 for Asbestos, Demolition Violations at Old Colony Housing in South Boston

  BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has penalized NASDI, LLC, a contractor hired to conduct demolition work at the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston, $41,150 for asbestos and demolition violations. NASDI is a Massachusetts-licensed demolition contractor with a local office at 1365 Main Street in Waltham. NASDI submitted and […]

A Bird’s Eye View of the 2012 Election – Evaluations, Endorsements & Links

A Bird’s Eye View of the 2012 Election – Evaluations, Endorsements & Links

Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan   November 3, 2012 After watching all the debate, interviewing the candidates, consuming the news and commercials every day I have made my final decisions on who I am supporting in Tuesday’s election. As the publisher of a newspaper, a political radio talk show host and an activist in my […]

Methuen Police Now Have Remote Submarine for Search and Rescue

Methuen Police Now Have Remote Submarine for Search and Rescue

  By: Tom Duggan – November 1, 2012 METHUEN – The City of Methuen’s Police Department has one more tool in it’s’ arsenal when responding to public safety emergencies in the many waterways of the city. Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon told the Valley Patriot Thursday that for approximately $7,000 the City of Methuen now […]

Hidden Cameras allow Scofflaws to be Identified, Penalized for Dumping Debris

Hidden Cameras allow Scofflaws to be Identified, Penalized for Dumping Debris

Using Remote Surveillance, MassDEP and City of Lawrence  Target Illegal Dumping in Public Spaces   BOSTON – In a cooperative effort to combat illegal dumping in the City of Lawrence, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) installed hidden cameras in high-risk locales that captured images of multiple perpetrators who were subsequently fined, and in […]

Daniel Lahiff Pays $5,000 Civil Penalty, for Conflict of Interest Law Violations

Lowell Regional Water Utility Executive Director Improperly used Utility generators and employees for personal purposes April, 2012 The Ethics Commission approved a Disposition Agreement in which Lowell Regional Water Utility (“LRWU”) Executive Director Daniel Lahiff admitted to violating MG.L. c. 268A, the conflict of interest law, by using an LRWU generator in his home, by soliciting […]

Who Really Cares About the Environment?

Who Really Cares About the Environment?

Just Look Locally at Lawrence and Listen Carefully for the Crickets By: Tom Duggan – March, 2012 In July of 2009 the Valley Patriot wrote an explosive story, publishing Documents that reveled operators at the City of Lawrence’s brand new $26 million water treatment facility had failed to test the city’s drinking water for a […]

Newt Gingrich: The Best Republican Candidate for President

Newt Gingrich: The Best Republican Candidate for President

Only Gingrich Can Institute the Fundamental Reforms Needed to Return America to Its Founding Principles and to the Prosperity That Will Quickly Follow  VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL! Today,America is stuck on stupid. We are mired in the leftist claims of entitlement and the promise that our prosperity can be achieved through a national policy of wealth […]

An Interview with Presidential Candidate Thaddeus McCotter

An Interview with Presidential Candidate Thaddeus McCotter

Valley Patriot President Tom Duggan and Tea Party Columnist (and activist) Christine Morabito sat down with Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R) Michigan, in Concord, NH last month for a one on one interview about his campaign for president.     Tom: What is it like running for president? McCotter: It’s great. But it’s a little frustrating […]

The Canine Heroes of September 11, 2001

The Canine Heroes of September 11, 2001

  By: Tracey Zysk – September, 2011 Ten years later…it is as if it was yesterday. After the buildings went down, the search started. Images of firefighters, police, military, New Yorkers and tourists all helping out, looking and searching. As a viewer watching this unravel on TV, I still couldn’t fully comprehend or maybe believe […]

Green or Shovel Ready – Government Fails to Create Jobs

Green or Shovel Ready – Government Fails to Create Jobs

By: John Golnik – September, 2011 In mid August, Representative Tsongas was in Lawrence to present a $300,000 grant to the Workforce Investment Board, federal monies from the EPA, for ‘green’ jobs training. A few days later Evergreen Solar, Inc. declared bankruptcy with nearly half a billion dollars in debt. This is the same Evergreen […]

Source of Waste being Dumped into Shawsheen Traced Back to Local Businesses

Source of Waste being Dumped into Shawsheen Traced Back to Local Businesses

February, 2011 Valley Patriot readers will recall that last summer, residents living near the Shawsheen River reported the smell of raw sewage and a foul, cloudy discharge coming from a stormwater drain behind the South Lawrence East School. In May of last year, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a letter to Lawrence DPW Director […]

EPA: Untreated Raw Sewage Flowing into Shawsheen

  By; Tom Duggan – June, 2010   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent a letter to Lawrence DPW Director Frank McCann (right) informing the City of Lawrence that the EPA has first hand knowledge that the city is pumping wastewater (human waste) into the Shawsheen River. According to documents obtained by The Valley […]