More than a month after federal law enforcement agents apparently raided the Boothbay-area waste transfer station, officials have yet to share any details about what was investigated.
The FBI initially confirmed that it was at the Boothbay Refuse Disposal District’s transfer station on March 26, doing “routine law enforcement activity” along with members of the Boothbay Harbor Police Department. Photos taken by the local newspaper, the Boothbay Register, also showed agents there.
But on Tuesday, a representative from the Boston office of the FBI said that it couldn’t share any more information with the Bangor Daily News.
Meanwhile, local officials have either not responded to requests for comment or said they are in the dark about the investigation. Nobody at the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District responded to a request for comment on Tuesday.
In the last week, the Bangor Daily News has filed requests for more information about the probe under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act to local officials in Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor, and to board members at the quasi-municipal Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District.
Immediately following the probe, Steve Lewis, the manager of the transfer station, was suspended from his role. Lewis also serves on the Boothbay Select Board. He claimed in March that he knew nothing about the FBI investigation and did not know why he was suspended.
No charges have been filed in federal court in Maine against the refuse district or Lewis.
More recently, Lewis has appealed his unpaid administrative leave, according to the Boothbay Register. His attorney, Richard Eliot, is researching whether proper legal notice was given when the board of the refuse district met to approve Lewis’ suspension on March 26, and why Lewis was not allowed to participate.
Elliot has not responded to the BDN’s requests for comment. And while Lewis missed a Boothbay Select Board meeting in the immediate wake of the raid, he has more recently resumed attending them, according to a video of a board meeting from April 23.
Officials at both the Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor town offices recently said that they knew nothing about the FBI investigation nor Lewis’ suspension.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.