Dartmouth will pay a $38,625 fine to New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services for three violations of its air pollution control permit, the College announced yesterday.
Assistant Director of Engineering and Utilities Stephen Mischissin said the infractions took place at the College's power plant between the fall of 1992 and the spring of 1994.
According to a press release, the first two infringements were reporting violations. The third violation occurred between July and September 1993, when the emission of nitrogen oxides from the College boiler exceeded the permit level of .30 pounds per million British thermal units, the press release said.
The highest level of emission recorded was .323 pounds per million Btus, according to the release.
Mischissin said according to the Environmental Protection Agency, nitrogen oxides release atmospheric smog when released to the atmosphere.
But he said the plant did not emit dangerous levels of nitrogen oxides. "I honestly can't tell you that this produced any detriment to the people in the community," Mischissin said.
Environmental Studies Professor James Hornig said he agreed. "It doesn't sound very serious," he said.
According to Mischissin, the violation occurred because the opacity monitor -- a device used to measure the cleanliness of the stack -- malfunctioned. Without a functioning opacity monitor, it was difficult to measure the emission of nitrogen oxides, he said.
According to Mischissin, thefirst reporting violation occurred because the College did not calibrate a pollution monitor and failed to report this to the state.
"This was an oversight by the plant management at the time," he said.
The second reporting violation took place because the College did not collect and report data from its nitrogen oxides monitor, according to Mischissin.
Mischissin said the College could not collect the data because the plant's nitrogen oxides monitor was malfunctioning.
Mischissin said the College has taken several moves to redress this issue and prevent its reoccurrence.
The College will also begin construction on new boilers which will lower emissions of nitrogen oxide in 1996, Mischissin said.
"We are constantly trying to upgrade our emissions equipment," he said.
