Town of Framingham v. Town of Ashland

Order upholding Framingham’s proposed formula to determine sewage transport fees.

Issue

What is Ashland’s “fair proportionate share of the cost of maintaining Framingham’s sewerage system” under St. 1946, c. 86, § 1, as amended by St. 1960, c. 406, § 1, for Framingham’s transport of Ashland’s sewage to two MWRA trunk lines?

Challenge

For nearly 40 years (from 1953-2002), Ashland paid Framingham $5,500 per year to transport millions of gallons of sewage from two locations at the Framingham-Ashland border through Framingham’s sewer system to the MWRA Extension Sewer located in South Framingham.

Outcome

An order issued by the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (now Department of Public Utilities) that adopted Framingham’s proposed formula to determine the cost of Ashland sewage transport, resulting in an increase of Ashland’s annual payment from $5,500 per year from 1963-2002 to nearly $1 million per year from 2005 to the present.  As of the end of 2020, Framingham has received nearly $15 million in payments from the Town of Ashland as a result of this successful litigation.