Massachusetts’ top environmental regulator is taking heat after it “missed” records it had been asked to hand over in a records request.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asked the Superior Court Friday to extend a deadline for summary judgment in what has become a brutal records request fight, with ExxonMobil hoping to shed light on the state’s failure to follow its own emissions rules. The records fight stems from Massachusetts’ years-long legal battle with Exxon over climate change, which began in 2019 when then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey alleged the company misled Massachusetts investors and consumers about climate-related risks and its fossil-fuel products.
Exxon has sought records concerning “next steps” state executive offices should take to comply with Massachusetts’ CO₂ emissions requirements for state fleet passenger vehicles, including records using the term “Executive Office.”
The state watchdog repeatedly claimed over a 16-month period that it handed over “all” responsive records, Exxon’s Friday response to DEP’s extension request notes, adding that it submitted numerous affidavits to support that claim.
DEP’s initial search failed to include relevant records, officials and search terms, including records from the Commissioner’s Office despite its role in administering the emissions regulation, Exxon’s filing alleges.
DEP and Exxon Mobil did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comments.
DEP interpreted “Executive Office” more broadly than the agency had when conducting its original records search, prompting the department to seek additional time for a targeted review, DEP claimed in its extension request.
Jack Pirozzolo, the attorney representing ExxonMobil, disputed DEP’s claims in their Aug. 20 response, which argues the original request explicitly defined “Executive Office” using the state regulation’s definition, leaving no room for ambiguity.
“Discovery has revealed that Defendants did not simply fail to search for and produce records associated with certain executive offices. Rather, it has revealed that DEP’s haphazard search systematically omitted relevant repositories, relevant custodians, relevant search terms, and ultimately relevant and responsive records,” Pirozzolo argued in his response.
Massachusetts agencies have faced a growing public-records workload, with requests nearly doubling between 2017 and 2024 to more than 44,000, according to state data. Local officials have attributed some delays to large, complex requests and limited staffing, while transparency advocates point to weak enforcement.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin told the Globe that government agencies generally “do not like the public records law” and that ensuring the law is enforced evenly has been a struggle.
Similar scrutiny surrounds the climate litigation itself. In Colorado, Boulder County and the City of Boulder are suing ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy over alleged climate-related harms, while recent amicus briefs argue the case could impose liability for the companies’ protected speech and political advocacy.
“Indeed, just three days before summary judgment briefs were due, and after more than 15 months of insisting it would find no more documents even were it ‘to look again,’” Exxon’s response reads. “DEP looked again and found responsive public records its initial search had missed.”
(DCNF)