Lahey Fined $540,000 for Environmental Violations

Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has been fined $540,000 for a operating a heat and power engine in Burlington without the proper air quality approval, and for submitting misleading and inaccurate information.

The fine was announced by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which said that Lahey was operating a 3,000-kilowatt engine without proper authorization.

As a part of the consent order signed with the MassDEP, Lahey Clinic Hospital, Inc., will pay $100,000 of the penalty to fund a Supplemental Environmental Program that will support a regional transportation shuttle service designed to decrease car usage in the area.

“A health-care facility that provides essential services to the community should not be installing and operating an engine of this size when they clearly understand the need to obtain required approvals, and then give false and misleading information about its installation,” said Eric Worrall, director of MassDEP’s Northeast Regional Office in Wilmington.

While inspecting the air quality violations, MassDEP also found a number of hazardous waste management violations involving storage and accumulation areas for hazardous waste.

Because of the DEP findings, Lahey will undertake a third-party environmental compliance and management systems audit, according to the DEP, and will submit the results no later than August 30, 2015.