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State Sen. Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) wants lawmakers to finally consider a bill languishing in the Senate since it was introduced by one of his colleagues, Sen. Stephen Brewer (D-Barre), in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said Jonathan Daigle, a spokesman for Moore.

At Moore's request, the Senate Ways and Means Committee has already voted to act favorably on the bill, or one like it, said Daigle. The Senate leadership has promised Moore that the full Senate will take action next week, and Moore has lined up a number of sponsors to introduce a House version of the still-evolving measure.

"A lot of times it takes something like this for people to go, 'Wow,'" said Daigle. "We know of no one who is opposed to this."

Three teenagers are accused of breaking into the Bellingham Road water tank Monday night, scaling a 12-foot barbed-wire fence, cutting power to the alarm, damaging electrical panels and gaining access to the water supply by prying off a vent on top of the 1.3-million gallon tank.

On Wednesday, laboratory tests put to rest a near panic that the water had been contaminated.
By then, however, the incident had already wrought widespread havoc as health officials ordered some 7,000 residents of Blackstone and North Smithfield to stop drinking tap water, shutting down five schools and numerous food-related businesses.

More than anything, the incident served as a disquieting illustration of the public's anxiety about terrorism in the post-9/11 age and how difficult it is to protect vulnerable municipal water supplies.
"Unfortunately, we no longer live in an era when people found it quaint for Huck Finn to sneak into the local swimming hole," Moore said in a prepared statement.

"These acts of vandalism were more than harmless pranks," he added. "They inconvenienced the people of Blackstone and North Smithfield, lost valuable education time for students and closed businesses."

Town Administrator Raymond J. Houle, who managed the water crisis from ground zero, said he welcomed Moore's efforts to bring stronger criminal penalties to bear against the perpetrators of such acts.

"I couldn't be happier," said Houle. "They should be posted in every school in the commonwealth."

Two 15-year-old boys were charged with trespassing, tampering with a public water supply, polluting a public water supply and malicious property damage, while a girl, also 15, was charged with trespassing.
Officials are hoping that whatever sentence the Worcester Juvenile Court eventually metes out for their crimes includes a high level of restitution for the losses incurred by the town and the business community, said Houle.

Juvenile cases are normally closed to media scrutiny, but Houle said the police will be keeping an eye on the progress of the vandalism case to make sure it does not get lost in the judicial sauce. So far, said Houle, all that is known is that the youths were arraigned and that the charges are pending.

In one hopeful sign that the court will be mindful of the tank vandalism's toll, the state Department of Environmental Protection sought to postpone the youths' arraignment long enough to dispatch staff to address the judge in the case, according to Houle.

"When DEP tells you to hold the arraignment process that tells you they were not happy," said Houle. "I felt good about that."

The inspiration for Brewer's original bill to safeguard water supplies was inspired by the Quabbin Reservoir, according to Daigle. Located in Brewer's senatorial district, the Quabbin is one of the largest and hard-to-police surface water supplies in the state, providing Greater Boston and the metrowest region with drinking water.

Moore asked for "immediate action" on the bill when he was advised that it was pending, he said.

Under present law, said Daigle, trespassing on public water supply lands or facilities is regarded as a misdemeanor, but the proposed measure would make it a felony. It also provides more severe penalties for repeat offenders and for the felony crimes of tampering with water supplies and equipment.

In addition, the measure would allow the courts to order restitution for water quality testing, police investigations of trespassing or tampering incidents and damage to equipment. The specifics of the penalties involved are still being ironed out and should be ready for public release next week, said Daigle.

The bill has the support of the Massachusetts Water Works Authority, an organization of water supply officials in Westford, Mass., that initially sought the bill to address concerns about terrorism.

"I wish it was possible to impose these new penalties in this most recent Blackstone incident because of the inconvenience and fear that it caused," Sen. Moore said. "However, we cannot increase penalties after the fact."

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