The Department of Environmental Quality may find the University in violation of state air pollution regulations stemming from a series of boiler failures that took place Jan. 15 and 16. Emissions from the overworked remaining boilers left much of the Venable neighborhood covered in soot.
In a letter sent Jan. 29 to University Chief Facilities Officer Robert Dillman, DEQ alleges the power plant exceeded emissions standards and University officials failed to notify DEQ of the exceedence within the specified limit of four business hours.
The University now has ten days to respond to the notice. If found to be in violation of the cited regulations, the University could face fines or be put under an "executive compliance agreement" -- an agreement between the University and DEQ to create strategies to ensure that the University does not violate regulations again, University Utilities Director Cheryl Gomez said yesterday at a press conference.
The University plans to respond to the letter by Friday and will use its response to provide a "clarification" of the events surrounding the alleged violations, she said.
Gomez acknowledged that she had not notified DEQ about the emissions until Jan. 20, but said she "didn't know about the law," requiring notification within four hours.
Even if University officials had known of the law, she said, they likely would not have known to call DEQ because they were unaware there had been an emissions problem until Monday morning when residents of the Venable neighborhood began calling the University.
In response to the emissions violation itself, Gomez said she hoped that DEQ would consider the "mitigating circumstances of that night."
"We've never had two major boilers go down," she said.
Gomez defended the facilities staff's choice to run the remaining boilers at an increased rate. She said the plant's staff had diverted steam from other buildings to ensure that the hospital did not lose heat.
"Our sole focus was protecting the hospital," Gomez said. "We were starting to see mechanical systems fail."
There were no reports of adverse effects to patients, she said.
To remedy the damage done to the Venable neighborhood, the University sent cleaning crews to the area yesterday.
Cold weather prevented the cleanup effort from beginning sooner, University Director of Facilities Operations Chris Willis said.
He said the University completed a "sidewalk survey" last week with the president of the Venable neighborhood association to identify highly trafficked areas most in need of cleanup.
Residents with specific damage complaints can call the office of Risk Management to have their cases considered on a "case to case basis."
The University has plans to improve the heat plant by replacing one boiler and retrofitting the others with pollution removal equipment and gas operation capacity, Gomez said.
Currently, the City does not have adequate capacity to support a 100 percent gas-powered plant, University Spokeswoman Carol Wood said.
The power plant enhancement project has been in the planning stages since last spring, but the $50 million estimated construction cost has proven to be an obstacle, Gomez said.
"It's something we've known we've had to do, but the challenge is to find $50 million," she said.
Gomez said she hoped public funds could be used for the project.
"The plan is serving state funded buildings," she said. "The Commonwealth needs to step up to the plate."
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