The manager of the Boothbay-area transfer station has been suspended from that role as the FBI investigates the waste facility.
Steve Lewis, who also sits on the Boothbay Select Board, confirmed in an interview Thursday that he has been placed on leave. But he said that he did not know anything about the investigation of the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District.
“I don’t know why,” Lewis said, in response to a question about why he was placed on suspension.
Tim Callery, a spokesperson for the Boston office of the FBI, said on Thursday that agents were doing “routine law enforcement activity” at the regional transfer station in Boothbay on Wednesday. He did not share any information about the investigation.
Lewis did not attend a meeting of the Boothbay Select Board on Wednesday, in which town officials confirmed there was an investigation but directed further questions to the FBI, according to video of the meeting.
The trustees of the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District voted to place the manager on unpaid leave during a special meeting on Wednesday morning, according to the Boothbay Register newspaper.
Little other information was available about the case. Boothbay Town Manager Daniel Bryer said Lewis is still a member of the Select Board, but that no other information was available. Employees at the transfer station said they could not comment about the investigation.
Located on Country Club Road in Boothbay, the refuse district offers waste disposal for the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Southport.
Lewis, who has worked for the district since 1990, also sits on the board of the Municipal Review Committee, an organization that handles the garbage disposal needs for 115 communities across eastern, central and northern Maine.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
