Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIX Chapter 130
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 130, § 27 (2026)

Criminal and tort liability for discharge of sewage or other substance injurious to public health into coastal waters

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 27. Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-five, himself, or by his agent or servant, permits the entrance or discharge into or on any part of said coastal waters or tributaries of such waters, sewage, heated effluent, or any other substance injurious to public health or tending to contaminate any shellfish area or shellfish therein, within the limits of a city or town, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred and fifty nor more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year or both and shall be liable in tort, to said city or town, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.

Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-five, himself, or by his agent or servant, permits the entrance or discharge into or on any part of said coastal waters or tributaries of such waters, sewage, heated effluent, or any other substance injurious to public health or causing injury or damage to any fishery resource, with the exception of shellfish located within the limits of a city or town, within the marine boundaries of the commonwealth, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred and fifty dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year or both and shall be liable in tort to the commonwealth, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.

Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-five, himself, or by his agent or servant, permits the entrance or discharge into or on any part of said coastal waters or tributaries of such waters, sewage, heated effluent, or any other substance injurious to public health or causing injury or damage to any private fishery resource within the boundaries of the commonwealth shall be liable in tort, to the owners or lessees of any private rights therein, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 1986–1986 · leading case: Connerty v. Metro. Dist. Comm'n, 495 N.E.2d 840 (Mass. 1986).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Connerty v. Metro. Dist. Comm'n, 495 N.E.2d 840 (Mass. 1986). · cites it 2× “), which prohibits the discharge into coastal waters of sewage or other substances which might be injurious to the public health or tend to contaminate any shellfish areas, rendering the perpetrator liable in treble damages for the violation pursuant to G.L.c. 130, § 27 (1984…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.