Breach at Water Storage Tank Prompts Town Investigation in Concord, Massachusetts

Police say a 1,500 pound cement boulder was moved off the top of the tank and the latches were broken

A police investigation is underway in Concord, Massachusetts, after a breach at one of the town's public underground drinking water storage tanks.

Over the weekend, police say a 1,500 pound cement boulder was moved off the top of the tank and the latches were broken, so that the drinking water could be accessed.

"...someone had taken a 1,500 pound cement block, moved it off the hatches to this reservoir, knocked a padlock off and opened up the hatches," said Chief Joseph O'Connor, of the Concord Police Department.

The boulder was placed on top of the tank after a similar incident back in August.

That time, the latches were broken with a rock.

The rock was found in the tank.

Police said they don't believe that terrorism is involved, and say it could be teenagers.

Authorities said beer cans were found nearby.

The state Department of Environmental Management told necn the tank has been taken offline, until all water testing is complete.

Some of the tests have already come back negative for anything dangerous.

The town says the tank has had a "negligible" contribution to the distribution system since a routine inspection that occurred on Friday September 9.

"We're fortunate that the time this occurred, the reservoir was filling, not distributing water out to the town, but really out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to notify our community that this did occur," Chief O'Connor said.

Police also say the town is looking to add new detection equipment to the water tank area, and possibly some cameras.

In the meantime, they urge residents if you see something suspicious, say something.

The town also says there swill be enough drinking water, even with the tank offline.

However, they are asking people to continue to conserve water considering the extreme drought.

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