MassDEP Penalizes Lawrence Property Owner $30,000
For Failure to Complete Cleanup of Contamination

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has penalized Santina Guiffrida $30,000 for failing to complete the cleanup of petroleum contamination at 61 South Union Street in Lawrence. 

Guiffrida owns the property where petroleum products in the soil and groundwater were first detected and reported to MassDEP in January of 1989. At that time, a gasoline station operated on the property, which has since changed use and currently serves as a retail location.

Under a consent order with MassDEP, Guiffrida has now agreed to perform response actions that will include determining the source and extent of contamination on the property. The order also states that Guiffrida must complete the required cleanup actions by no later August 15, 2011.

"The owner initiated some cleanup actions that were never completed. Now that delay has brought today's enforcement action to bear," said Richard Chalpin, director of MassDEP's Northeast Regional Office in Wilmington. "Responsible parties are given time to perform cleanups. However, if that time is squandered, there is a greater potential harm to the environment, and that is why Massachusetts regulations penalize inaction by those who neglect their responsibility."

MassDEP has agreed to suspend $20,000 of the assessed penalty pending full compliance with all the cleanup deadlines established in today's consent order. 

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