Only on 7News — new information in a Hank investigation. She showed you the dirty and dangerous conditions at a well-known marina in Boston Harbor. Now Hank has learned the marina’s owner has landed in legal hot water.
Look at the rotted wood, sinking docks, rusted pilings and yellow caution planks.
Last month we showed you the conditions at the shipyard quarters marina near the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Residents call it a dirty little secret.
Dave Alexander: “It’s basically the equivalent of a nautical slum.”
Last summer Mayor Menino called it deplorable, and a disaster, and an outrageous hazard.
City and state inspectors have been documenting violations at the marina since 2010. In 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection ordered owner to make repairs.
And now we’ve learned the attorney general is taking action:
Filing a lawsuit against the owner – Martin Oliner, he’s mayor of a small town in New York.
When we talked with Oliner last he assured us that he would repair the marina — soon.
Martin Oliner: “We haven’t ignored the city of Boston, we haven’t ignored anyone.”
And then he told us he has a plan, a big plan, to make a new marina.
Martin Oliner: “We’ve acted responsibly within the parameters of a very large problem that needs to be remedied, and it can’t be remedied with chewing gum.”
But the Massachusetts Attorney General is suing Oliner for “violating and continuing to violate” state law. The AG’s lawsuit says the marina has “fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair” and that “Oliner has created, and continues to create, a public nuisance.”
The AG is asking the court to force Oliner to stop renting any more dock space until the entire marina is repaired. The AG also wants him to pay up to $25,000 for each day the marina was in violation of the law.
The first court hearing on the case is scheduled for Wednesday. We tried contacting Martin Oliner numerous times by email and phone to get his reaction to the AG’s lawsuit. His secretary told us she’d take a message, but that the mayor is away.
If you have a tip you want to Hank to investigate, and have pictures or video to help tell us the situation, please email TELLHANK@WHDH.COM