A team of five inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency arrived at MIT Tuesday to begin checking MIT compliance with regulations on hazardous waste, discharges of pollutants, underground storage tanks, oil spill prevention and control, and storm water permitting and management.
The visit is part of a campaign to make the Charles River safe for fishing and swimming.
EPA Regional Administrator John DeVillars, in a letter to MIT and other major firms and institutions in the lower Charles River watershed, said, "Where violations of the law are discovered, the polluting activities will be enjoined, penalties will be assessed, and self-audits and supplemental projects going beyond the minimum requirements of the law will be pursued." The maximum fine is $25,000 per citation.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 20, 1998.
