Henry Papuga Trial: Milford Police Chief Testifies

WORCESTER — Milford Police Chief Thomas O'Loughlin testified Monday that the cost of distributing bottled water to town residents, following the 2009 boil water order, was borne by the Milford Water Company.

And the private utility also paid for the $45-an-hour police details needed to keep traffic flowing smoothly and tempers in check, as thousands of people turned out at Milford High School to collect free gallons.

The first day alone, he said, 6,000 vehicles pulled through the high school. Nearly all received just one gallon of water. The four pallets of water initially purchased by the Water Company for the distribution were gone in the first hour. "It was a loggerjam," O'Loughlin said. "The response was just simply unbelievable, the number of cars.

Traffic backed up, and the police had to keep circling people through the parking lot of the high school to keep traffic on the main roads flowing. "There were calls of road rage and people fighting in intersections," O'Loughlin said. "For a gallon of water."

Former Milford Water Company manager Henry Papuga, now on trial in Worcester Superior Court, is accused by state prosecutors of intentionally tampering with water samples to lift the boil water order. 

In his testimony, on Monday afternoon, O'Loughlin said that Papuga told him on Aug. 14, 2009, five days after the boil water order was issued, and four days after the water distribution began, that he expected a second round of testing would come back clean, and that he wanted to stop the water distribution effort.

The cost was one of the factors he mentioned, O'Loughlin said. At times, the chief said, 25 to 50 officers were assigned to help with the water distribution to residents.

When Papuga explained he wanted to stop the free water distribution, anticipating the second consecutive clean water sampling, O'Loughlin said he reported "cost was one of the issues."

The trial is being heard by Superior Judge David Ricciardone. In opening statements, attorney William Kettlewell, who is representing Papuga, said the state had no evidence, or witnesses, that would convict Papuga.

Papuga had opportunity to come into contact with the water samples, Kettlewell said, but so did others. "What the state presents is the obvious," he said. Mr. Papuga had an opportunity to get near the water samples. "So did everyone at the Milford Water Company, and at the lab."

Assistant Attorney General Sara Farnum said evidence will show Papuga took matters into his own hands to resolve the boil water order. On Aug. 15, she said, Papuga's son, who also worked at the Water Company, collected the samples, which his father then turned over to the lab for analysis. The lab couldn't read several of the samples for bacteria because the chlorine reading was so high, she said.

The trial is expected to continue through the week.