REGIONAL DIGEST.

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COLUMN: REGIONAL DIGEST

Brimfield man fined by DEP

BRIMFIELD - A resident has been fined $4,000 for reconstructing a driveway to a residence on Chamberlain Mountain Road without filing a notice of intent with the Conservation Commission and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP said in a news release yesterday that Jeffrey Paulin started reconstructing stream culverts and grading the access drive in May.

A notice of intent should have been submitted, as required by the state Wetlands Protection Act, before work began in streams and wetlands, the agency said in the statement. The Conservation Commission issued an order requiring all work to cease.

In addition to assessing the penalty, the DEP's actions supported the Conservation Commission by requiring the affected stream and wetland to be restored.

"The Brimfield Conservation Commission's action of issuing a cease-and-desist order prevented further harm to important resource areas," said Michael Gorski, director of the DEP's western regional office in Springfield. "With a cease-and-desist order having stopped further harm, the DEP and the owner were able to negotiate a timetable and requirements for restoration of the site."

Jeffrey M. Chasse, Mr. Paulin's lawyer, said his client "has been very cooperative and has been very conciliatory with the state in working it out and in repairing it and restoring the road. It's a consent order amicably reached by the state and Mr. Paulin."

Crash injures three in Charlton

CHARLTON - A car went off the road and struck a tree yesterday afternoon, sending three people to the hospital.

The accident happened about 3:45 p.m. on City Depot Road (Route 31) near the intersection of North Sturbridge Road.

The driver, Lorna A. McNulty, 53, of 7A North Sturbridge Road, and one her two passengers, an 8-year-old boy, were injured when the 1995 Nissan Pathfinder went out of control...