Worker tampers with MA town’s drinking supply by unleashing untreated water, feds say
A former employee for a Massachusetts’ town’s water department pleaded guilty to tampering with the local drinking supply, unleashing untreated water into the town’s system, federal prosecutors said.
Robert J. Bullock Sr., who worked for the Stoughton Water Department, visited the department’s pumping stations the night of Nov. 29, 2022, and switched off a pump, introducing “insufficiently disinfected water” into the town’s drinking water, according to prosecutors.
The pump added chlorine into Stoughton’s drinking water system, prosecutors said. The town is about a 20-mile drive southwest from Boston.
Drinking water chlorination is a common way to disinfect water, as it gets rid of bacteria, viruses and other germs that can sicken people, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
On March 26, Bullock, 60, of Brockton, pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a water system, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a news release.
His federal public defender, Cara McNamara, didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment March 27.
When Stoughton Water Department workers discovered the chlorine pump had been turned off the next day, they took action on Nov. 30, 2022, according to a letter from the town’s manager, Thomas J. Calter. As a result, the drinking supply wasn’t compromised.
“The town responded in time to prevent chlorine levels from remaining low long enough to jeopardize the water quality,” the letter, which was shared to Facebook in July 2023, said.
The employees suspected “someone ‘on the inside’” had turned off the pump, according to the letter.
The incident was reported to local authorities, who then alerted the FBI due to concerns of potential domestic terrorism, the letter said.
Bullock was questioned by the FBI in June 2023, several months after he was accused of tampering with the town’s water system, according to his indictment.
He lied to agents when he told them he never visited the town’s water pumping station the evening of Nov. 29, 2022, the indictment says.
When questioned by FBI agents again in July 2023, he denied “knowingly’” turning off the chlorine pump,” according to the filing.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment against Bullock in March 2024. He was initially charged with two counts of false statements in addition to one count of tampering with a water supply, the filing shows.
Bullock faces up to 20 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release and could be fined up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 9:12 AM with the headline "Worker tampers with MA town’s drinking supply by unleashing untreated water, feds say."
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