Commission to destroy confiscated booze

It's a scene that would make Duff Beer-swilling Homer Simpson cry, "D'oh!''

The Alcohol Beverage Control Commission will destroy 250 cases of beer and 155 bottles of liquor, confiscated from minors, at a hazardous waste recycling facility in Lakeville today.

Francy Ronayne, deputy press secretary to Treasurer Timothy Cahill, who oversees the ABCC, initially said that the alcohol would be smashed with bowling balls "to make it more interesting for the media.''

But Press Secretary Allison Mitchell said yesterday there won't be any bowling for beer; the confiscated beverages will be loaded onto conveyor belts and dropped into a vat.

Targeting liquor stores and bars near college campuses, local police and ABCC investigators took the alcohol from underage drinkers and adults who were illegally serving them.

The treasurer, who transported the alcohol from across the state to Boston for today's news conference, is inviting the media to Lakeville for the liquor liquidation.

"I feel confident that these programs result in the immediate prevention of underage drinking as well as a long-term deterrence to bar and package store owners serving underage individuals,'' wrote Cahill's office in an e-mailed statement.

Terrence Connaughton, executive director of the Massachusetts Licensed Beverage Association, estimated that on average a case of beer costs $20 and a bottle of liquor between $15 and $18, or approximately $7,500 for the entire cache.

According to Mitchell, the ABCC does not calculate the value of the alcohol, which it is legally required to destroy, because some bottles may have been partially consumed.

The ABCC conducted its annual Operation Safe Campus investigation in Amherst, Boston, Bridgewater, Lawrence, Lowell, Medford, New Bedford and Worcester, among other locations.

MetroWest Daily News writer Lindsey Parietti can be reached at lindsey.parietti@cnc.com.