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EPA and URI Agree to $800,000 Settlement in Environmental Enforcement Case

Release Date: 04/05/2001
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the University of Rhode Island has agreed to an enforcement settlement worth at least $800,000 - most of which will be spent on environmental improvement projects - stemming from widespread environmental violations found at the university's Kingston campus during a 1997 inspection. It is the largest settlement of its kind to date involving a New England university.

Under a consent agreement filed today in U.S. District Court, URI will pay $250,000 in civil penalties, implement environmental improvement projects worth at least $550,000, and perform a campus-wide environmental compliance audit. In the Consent Decree, URI certifies that it is now in compliance with the allegations set forth in EPA's complaint. In addition, URI has agreed to conduct a comprehensive multi-media environmental audit that will rectify any problems revealed during the audit.

The environmental projects include replacing a containment storage area built atop a key "sole source" drinking water aquifer with a new, state-of-the-art hazardous waste storage area away from the aquifer (at a minimum estimated cost of $300,000); and installing advanced septic treatment systems in historic Wickford Harbor, an ecologically sensitive water body in East Greenwich. The septic systems will reduce coliform pollution, protect eelgrass and improve overall water quality in the harbor, which is part of Narragansett Bay. The septic system project will require an expenditure of at least $250,000.

The settlement is in response to numerous alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, hazardous waste laws and other environmental statutes discovered during a two-day EPA inspection at the university's 900-acre campus.

Among the 19 alleged violations: the possible release of hazardous wastes from the university's art facility into soil and groundwater; storage of potentially explosive and/or reactive hazardous wastes in a building situated in the middle of the university's heavily populated campus; and multiple failures to properly manage hazardous wastes.

Under the Clean Water Act, URI failed to implement spill prevention plan for the many fuel storage tanks it operates around the campus. EPA believed that a spill from these tanks could potentially damage White Horn Brook, 30 Acre Pond, the Great Swamp Wildlife Reservation and the Chipuxet River, as well as cause extensive groundwater contamination.

Finally, under the Toxic Substances Control Act, URI failed to properly manage and dispose of transformers containing PCBs and failed to obtain permits required by the Clean Air Act. Further, one stored transformer was found to have spilled PCB-laden oil on the concrete floor beneath it. Nor was the spill cleaned up in accordance with the law.

"The environmental violations we found at URI were both widespread and serious. There was clearly a potential to cause significant damage to the environment as well as potential harm to staff and students living on campus," said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "This agreement addresses the on-campus compliance problems and it also will lead to improvements in Wickford Harbor, one of Rhode Island's most ecologically sensitive water bodies. The settlement also sends a message to universities across New England that we're serious about environmental compliance."

"This settlement will result in environmental benefits for URI and its neighbors, both in the disposal of hazardous waste generated on campus and in ecological protections for Wickford Harbor," said U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Curran. "Not only will the hazardous waste treatment facility that is to be built on campus be a vast improvement, it will exceed the standards that federal regulations require. I am glad that our office was able to help facilitate the negotiations that led to this settlement."

The settlement is among numerous enforcement actions EPA New England has taken against universities and colleges in New England as part of its College and University Initiative launched in March 1999. The program was initiated after EPA inspectors noticed generally poor compliance during their visits to universities, which typically have large numbers of laboratories and other operations handling a large array of toxic chemicals. In launching the effort, EPA sent warning letters to the presidents of all 286 colleges and universities in New England, including the president of URI.

The initiative includes extensive compliance assistance activities, including workshops geared for university environmental compliance personnel and a university compliance web page, which can be visited at www.epa.gov/region01/assistance/univ/ The next compliance assistance workshop will be held May 17 at Yale University.

The initiative also includes a stepped up enforcement presence at universities. Numerous inspections have since been carried out at many colleges and universities in the region – among those, a 1999 inspection at Brown University.

URI is the fifth university to be fined by EPA in an enforcement action in the last five years. EPA's New England Office has also taken actions against Brown University, the University of New Hampshire, Yale University and Boston University for violations of hazardous waste management laws and the Clean Water Act.

In November, EPA proposed fines of up to $500,000 against Brown for 15 violations of federal environmental laws. EPA also ordered Brown to comply immediately with environmental regulations.

Last year, UNH agreed to pay a $49,000 penalty and conduct environmental improvements worth about $180,000 to settle claims that the university violated federal and state hazardous waste management laws. Yale paid a $69,570 fine in 1995 after being cited for mishandling and mislabeling hazardous chemicals the previous year. As a result of the enforcement action, the school also agreed to invest $279,000 in environmental programs on campus and in New Haven.

BU, inspected in 1996, reached a settlement with EPA in October 1997 in which the school agreed to pay a $253,000 cash penalty, invest $500,000 on environmental projects and conduct a comprehensive environmental compliance audit. It was the largest enforcement action ever against an institution of higher learning.