BLACKSTONE, MA — Attorney General Andrea Campbell is suing a Blackstone septic services company, alleging that the company dumped untreated waste into wetland areas owned by the town.

The lawsuit filed against several companies under the umbrella of Marchand Environmental alleges that the company violated the state Wetlands Protection Act and Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, among other laws.

According to Campbell, the company illicitly expanded its 25 Elm St. property using wood waste and construction debris, and then used those areas to dump untreated septic waste. The waste then seeped into wetland areas, which protect some of Blackstone’s drinking water wells.

“[T]he Defendants dumped septage from the pumping truck into a large wood pile, resulting in septage seeping into wetland resource areas. In addition, the complaint alleges that the Defendants’ trucks leaked septic waste directly onto the ground, resulting in dangerously high levels of fecal coliform bacteria contamination from human waste in wetland resource areas on Blackstone’s property,” the lawsuit says.

The company’s property abuts the Southern New England Trunkline Trail and Harris Pond, which flows into the Blackstone River near the Rhode Island line.

Campbell is suing for civil damages, but also to force the company to clean up the contaminated wetlands.

Sesame Street is a mythical, magical place where millions of American pre-schoolers have gathered for decades through television, video, film, books, music and elsewhere. We’ve met countless wonderful souls on Sesame Street, some real, some fictional but all memorable.

Sesame Street, created for public television by Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett, Jon Stone and Jim Henson, premiered on November 10, 1969. 

My colleague Phil Devitt recently wrote about Waltham, Massachusetts native Caroll Spinney,  the man behind – and inside – Sesame Street‘s Big Bird character from 1969 to 2018. Phil had the great fortune to interview Spinney in 2014.

The article is a must-read for anyone who spent time alone or with their children watching Sesame Street on television.

READ MORE: Massachusetts Was Home of Humble “Sesame Street” Legend Behind Big Bird

But there is more and I am here to tell you the rest of the story.

Not only did Spinney immortalize Big Bird, but he was also the voice of Sesame Street fan favorite Oscar the Grouch and was the puppeteer who controlled Oscar’s movements. 

How’s that for a little Street cred? 

According to his autobiography The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch), during the 1960s, Spinney played several characters on the Boston television version of Bozo’s Big Top, which featured the late Frank Avruch as Bozo.

On Bozo, Spinney performed as several costumed characters including Flip Flop the Rag Doll, Mr. Rabbit, Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo and Mr. Lion.

Spinney also appeared on Boston television on the Judy and Mr. Goggle Show in 1958.

Spinney married twice and had three children. He retired from Sesame Street in 2018  and died a year later in Woodstock, Connecticut. He was 85. 

A Level 2 sex offender who was convicted of raping 7 and 8-year-old girls has been sentenced to prison after the feds busted him for child pornography.

Billerica man Eric Johnson, 51, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Thursday, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Level 2 sex offender — who was convicted in 1992 for aggravated felonious sexual assault of a child under 13 for raping two girls in New Hampshire — was caught possessing more than 5,000 files of child sexual abuse material.

Children’s clothing, mutilated dolls and diapers were also found at his home.

“Mr. Johnson is an extremely dangerous individual who has repeatedly demonstrated his predatory interest in children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy. “He belongs in prison for a long time.

“The victims of child pornography are not abstractions or objects – they are real kids who experienced sexual exploitation in order for these pictures or images to be distributed and possessed,” Levy added. “Although today’s sentence cannot erase the ongoing pain endured by the victims from their traumatic abuse, the message about the severe consequences of possessing child pornography should be crystal clear.”

In early 2022, Johnson was identified as a user of a peer-to-peer internet network downloading child sexual abuse material. Police searches of his home resulted in the recovery of 25 electronic devices, including a laptop, hard drives and other electronic devices.

Multiple hard drives were found hidden next to Johnson’s bed — as well as hidden inside Johnson’s basement ceiling, shelves, cabinets, and in an ammunition can located in a crawl space at the residence. The laptop at the time was running a program to delete files from a hard drive, and was about 56% complete before being disabled by a forensic examiner.

Police also found two children’s backpacks from under his bed that contained various children’s clothing, including: bathing suits and a nightgown; a bag of children’s costumes; children’s diapers; and at least three child-sized dolls. What appeared to be bodily fluids were found in at least two of the dolls, police said.

A forensic exam revealed more than 5,000 files depicting child pornography on seven of the devices, including images and video files depicting the sexual abuse and rape of minor victims as young as infants and toddlers.

Many other disturbing items were also located on the devices, including images and videos of bestiality, photos of women’s deceased bodies, as well as videos of Johnson engaging in sexual acts with dolls.

“This lifetime sex offender admitted to amassing thousands of images of babies, toddlers, and children suffering horrific sexual abuse, and today’s sentence reflects the severity and depravity of his crime,” said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division.

“Those photos and videos represent unimaginable pain forced upon utterly vulnerable victims, some too young to walk or talk,” Cohen added. “It’s cases like this that drive the FBI and our partners, as we work to protect the children in our communities from predators like Eric Johnson.”

In addition to the 10 years in prison, Johnson was sentenced to five years of supervised release. Johnson was ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture in the amount of $38,000.

Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography earlier this year. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest in February 2022.