A lawsuit by a Waltham-based company over the state’s apparent refusal to provide them requested correspondence is just the latest litigation involving the business, a review of court proceedings shows.

Global Partners, the company which currently operates several of the state’s 18 highway service plazas, sued MassDOT last week demanding the release of “key documents,” which they say are “tied to the controversial award of a 35-year service plaza lease.” The lease in question was approved by the MassDOT Board of Directors at their regular meeting in June over the objections of Global, and was awarded to Dublin-based convenience store chain Applegreen.

Their lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court on August 11, seeks to have a judge order the release of correspondence between Applegreen and members of MassDOT’s Selection Committee, and it’s not the first time the company has found itself fighting it out in court in recent years. Here’s a look at a couple of other pending cases.

Alliance Energy LLC. v. Project Service LLC.

This ongoing dispute out of Connecticut is between subsidiaries owned by Global and Applegreen. It’s scheduled to go to trial in February of 2027.

The case began as a suit by Global-subsidiary Alliance in 2024 against Project Service, which was partially procured by Applegreen in 2019.

According to the civil complaint, Alliance is asking the court to determine a “rebate” they were receiving for fuel didn’t count as a “discount” which could increase the amount of rent they owed to Project Services.

“For more than a decade, Alliance made payments exactly as the subcontract required, without a single objection from Project Service. That changed after Applegreen, a foreign-owned company, took control in 2019. Applegreen is now trying to rewrite the contract to squeeze more money out of the deal for itself, money that does nothing for Connecticut taxpayers,” Sean Geary, chief legal officer at Global Partners, told the Herald in response to emailed questions.

Project Service responded to the suit with a countersuit of their own, claiming that “Alliance has been receiving rebates and, on information and belief, potentially other reductions in the cost of fuel it purchases, since at least 2015.”

Bob Etchingham, the President and CEO of Applegreen, said during the MassDOT board’s most recent meeting that “we inherited Global as a tenant in Connecticut in 2019 and found them to be unsatisfactory, even having to resort to litigation to recover unpaid rent.”

Despite the dispute, Global says they’ve paid out the rent requested by Applegreen “under protest,” to the tune of $10.6 million “because honoring our commitments matters.”

Conservation Law Foundation v. Global Partners

Brought in U.S. District Court for the District Of Massachusetts, this suit was filed by an environmental group last summer over what they contend were multiple violations of the Clean Water Act.

According to Conservation Law Foundation, Global’s oil terminals in Chelsea and Revere were “discharging pollutants” into the Chelsea River, namely potentially carcinogenic “polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” and heavy metals.

“Since 2023, Global’s monitoring data for the Chelsea Sandwich Terminal has revealed at least 22 violations of the monthly average effluent limits for PAHs” allowed under their Chelsea permit, and “since 2023, Global’s monitoring data for the Global Revere Terminal has revealed at least 28 violations of the monthly average effluent limits for PAHs” allowed under their Revere permit, the CLF told the court.

Global told the Herald that they began working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on the matter “long before CLF filed its complaint,” and they entered a “voluntary Administrative Consent Order” with the EPA last summer detailing next steps.

The company “permanently decommissioned” the Revere facility last fall, according to Geary, and in Chelsea they installed a “state-of-the-art stormwater filtration system” earlier this year that brought them “in full compliance with all permit requirements.”

“As a company that handles energy products, we take our responsibility to the environment and the communities where we operate very seriously,” Geary said.

What it means

According to Global, their about nine decades of business in the Bay State “keeping homes warm, fueling emergency services, and supporting local communities” has demonstrated that they are a company that operates with “integrity and honesty” while simultaneously “collaborating with federal, state, and local agencies to ensure we meet or exceed all regulatory requirements.”

Legal disputes, they say, are a “a natural part of doing business in complex industries,” and the company “in all cases, believe we have acted with honesty, integrity, and in the best interests of our employees and communities.” Their chief legal officer pointed the Herald toward Applegreen’s legal history.

Etchingham told MassDOT’s board that his company has been the target of a “well orchestrated” smear campaign brought by Global Partners and its executives after the other company was fairly outbid. Diana Pisciotta, a spokesperson for the Irish company, told the Herald that Global’s track record speaks for itself and it’s not a ringing endorsement.

These cases along a tax dispute in New York and since-resolved complaints from fuel sellers in Connecticut demonstrate a pattern, she said.

“When a company has a history of legal cases related to exploiting contractual loopholes, shortchanging vendors, non-compliance with tax obligations and environmental issues, responsible government agencies are wise to consider the reliability and integrity of their potential partner,” Pisciotta said. “The length of this contract – [three] decades plus, requires an operator who can not only get the job done to world class standards, but can also be a trusted partner.”