Framingham Man, Realty Company to Pay $6,000 Penalty for
Violating Waste Site Cleanup Requirements at Worcester Property

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has cited a Framingham man and his realty management company for violating the hazardous waste site cleanup regulations at a property in Worcester, and assessed a $6,000 penalty for the violations.

The Worcester site, located at 344 Franklin Street, is owned by Vaios Theodorakos and his company VTT Realty Property Management. The site is an under-utilized, industrial mill-style building that formerly housed the Graton and Knight Manufacturing Company, and later, Come Play Products, a plastic injection molding plant.

Theodorakos purchased the property in 2003. In May 2005, Theodorakos properly notified MassDEP when he discovered an historical release of hydraulic oil to the groundwater at the property. He completed an aggressive clean up the hydraulic oil. However, reportable concentrations of several hazardous materials that were unrelated to the hydraulic oil release were detected in the soil and groundwater during the cleanup actions.

Theodorakos failed to notify MassDEP of these contaminants - chromium, lead and tetrachloroethene - in a timely manner, and failed to meet the regulatory deadlines for submitting a site assessment report and a cleanup plan for the property.

Theodorakos will pay a $6,000 penalty, and will submit future documents in accordance with approved deadlines established in a consent order.

"Failing to notify MassDEP of releases within the allowable time periods often results in the delay of the cleanup of hazardous waste sites," said Mary Gardner, deputy director of MassDEP's Central Regional Office in Worcester. "Mr. Theodorakos has returned to compliance and is completing the cleanup within approved deadlines."

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