A Massachusetts environmental services operator has been sentenced after a jury found he submitted a stack of falsified records claiming to document the disposal of nearly 100,000 gallons of septic waste — waste whose actual fate remains unknown to this day.

Michael L. Marchand, 55, of Blackstone, the owner of Marchand Environmental, was sentenced on May 19, 2026 to two years in the House of Correction, suspended for three years with probation. The sentence follows his conviction earlier this month on twelve counts of uttering false public documents, handed down by a jury after a two-day trial in Norfolk Superior Court. The case was announced by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

How the Case Started

According to evidence presented at trial, the chain of events began with a routine repair job. A building supply company hired Marchand to fix its failed septic system at 419 Maple Street in Bellingham. As part of that work, the Bellingham Board of Health required him to pump, transport, and dispose of the septic waste from the site between January and March 2024.

In May 2024, the Board of Health did what the law entitles it to do: it asked Marchand to produce his pumping records. The twelve records he submitted indicated that he had pumped, transported, and disposed of roughly 99,000 gallons of septage from the property.

But when the Board reviewed the paperwork, the numbers and details didn’t hold up. The records contained false information and were missing legally required elements — most notably the location of the disposal facility and the signatures needed to verify that the waste had actually been disposed of properly.

The Investigation

That discrepancy triggered an investigation led by the Attorney General’s Office and the Massachusetts Environmental Police. Investigators concluded that Marchand had intentionally submitted the false records to the Board of Health with the intent to defraud it.

The most striking detail to emerge from the case is also the most troubling: the actual location where the 99,000 gallons of septage ended up remains unknown. The records meant to track that waste were fabricated, and so the paper trail simply leads nowhere.

Why It Matters

It can be tempting to view a paperwork case as a technical or victimless offense. The science says otherwise. Inadequately treated septage can transmit disease to both humans and animals, and it can contaminate soil, groundwater, and surface water. Those pathways can in turn threaten drinking water supplies, shellfish beds, and beaches. It is precisely because of these public health and environmental stakes that the law requires haulers to properly transport and dispose of all septic waste — and to document it honestly.

In other words, the records aren’t bureaucratic busywork. They are the mechanism by which the public can be confident that hazardous waste actually went where it was supposed to go.

Additional Conditions and a Pending Civil Case

Beyond the suspended sentence, the court imposed conditions aimed at preventing a repeat. Marchand must provide enhanced notification to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) of all activities related to transporting and removing septage, and he must comply with MassDEP-mandated inspections of all his septage operations.

The criminal case is not the end of Marchand’s legal exposure. Separately, he, his companies — Marchand LLC and 25 Elm Street LLC — and his son, Michael Marchand, are named as defendants in an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Division. That suit alleges violations of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, the Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, the State Environmental Code, and the Massachusetts Solid Waste Disposal Act, claiming the defendants dumped septic waste, construction and demolition debris, and wood waste into wetlands at their facility in Blackstone. That case remains pending, and the allegations in it have not been proven.

The Bigger Picture

The prosecution was handled by the Attorney General’s Environmental Crimes Strike Force, a unit that brings together prosecutors, Massachusetts Environmental Police investigators, and engineers and attorneys from MassDEP to pursue environmental offenses that threaten public health. The strike force’s portfolio spans illegal hazardous and solid waste disposal, water pollution, air emissions, pesticide misuse, and wetlands violations.

Cases like this one illustrate why that kind of specialized enforcement exists. The harm from improperly disposed septage is often invisible until it shows up in a contaminated well or a closed beach. Honest record-keeping is the early-warning system — and when those records are faked, the safeguard disappears along with the waste.

IF YOU NEED A LAWYER CONTACT US