Photos by Rebecca Arrington

Steve Swingle of Hydraulic Powerwash of Charlottesville, cleans soot from sidewalks on Rugby Road Feb. 4. The University of Virginia hired his company and two others to clean city sidewalks in the Venable neighborhood area as part of clean-up eforts to remove soot, caused by two overloaded boilers at U.Va.'s heating plant last month.

February 5, 2003

From Staff Reports

University officials have received notice that its heating plant may have been in violation of state air-quality standards when a boiler used on an emergency basis in mid-January discharged large amounts of soot into the Venable neighborhood.

At a press briefing yesterday, Cheryl Gomez, U.Va.’s director of utilities, said she will seek clarification from the state Department of Environmental Quality about violations cited in a Jan. 29 letter from the agency.

The DEQ notice says U.Va. failed to notify the agency of the soot emissions within the mandated time period. In addition, emissions during three periods Jan. 15-17 exceeded opacity standards.

The University has until Saturday to respond to the notice, and Gomez says she hopes to reply by Friday. While there is no question the boilers were discharging soot above state standards, she said the regulations are not always clear-cut.

Gomez recounted how two of the plant’s newest and largest boilers were both out of commission on the night of Jan. 16, when snow was hitting the area and temperatures were in the teens. That forced heating plant officials to press two older boilers — one powered by coal, one by natural gas — into service. The coal-fired boiler discharged the excess soot.

"Everything came together that shouldn’t have come together at the same time," she said.

"That was a very unusual circumstance – that has never happened before."

Numerous buildings around Grounds were taken off line to ensure that the Medical Center received sufficient heat to keep patients safe. "Our sole focus was to protect the hospital," she said.

Steve Kennedy of Waco, Inc., cleans soot from sidewalks bordering Venable School (background) Feb. 4. The University of Virginia hired Waco and two other companies to clean city sidewalks in the Venable neighborhood as part of clean-up eforts to remove soot, caused by two overloaded boilers at U.Va.'s heating plant last month.

Discharge that normally would have been carried away was trapped in the heavy snow and dumped into the Venable area. University officials were unaware of the soot, however, until residents began calling on Jan. 20.

Since then, U.Va. representatives have met with residents, administrators at Martha Jefferson House and Venable Neighborhood Association President Bobbie Bruner to address cleanup concerns.

Chris Willis, director of Facilities Operations, said yesterday that cold weather hampered initial cleanup efforts. Since this past weekend, crews hired by the University have power-washed sidewalks and other "horizontal areas" around Venable Elementary School, Martha Jefferson House, Rugby Road and elsewhere.

Willis said residents’ concerns are being addressed on a case-by-case basis through the University’s Office of Risk Management at 924-3850.

The soot has not created any significant health hazards in the community, according to Dr. Chris Holstege, director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center.

The University has been working with DEQ since last spring to develop a plan to allow the University to burn the fuels needed to heat its buildings while reducing emissions from the plant. Preliminary planning is under way; a two-year design process will follow.

Options being considered include controls on the smokestack, modifications inside the boilers for cleaner combustion and replacing one or more of the oldest boilers. The mix of fuels the University burns also is being studied.

The entire project is estimated to cost $50 million and would be completed in 2008 at the earliest.