Official Delays MATEP Ruling, Solicits Comments on Diesels

A state official this week sent letters to officers of the Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP) and to community residents--letters that delay his decision on whether to allow MATEP to install its diesel engines.

David Fierra, the deputy commissioner of the State Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (DEQE), sent letters Friday to MATEP officials and community residents asking their comments on another DEQE official's proposal to allow MATEP to install the engines.

Ifs, Ands, and Buts

The DEQE counsel recommended recently that the $175 million MATEP be allowed to install the diesels if it meets certain environmental conditions. This recommendation contradicts a January 1978 ruling by a DEQE hearing officer that MATEP's diesels--which may produce levels of nitrogen dioxide harmful to humans and animals--should not be installed.

L. Edward Lashman, director of external projects, yesterday declined comment on Fierra's letter.

Thomas B. Bracken, attorney for Brookline Citizens to Protect the Environment, yesterday declined comment on the letter, adding that his group has already written Fierra to protest the DEQE counsel's recommendations.

The letter gives all parties two weeks to respond, Fierra said yesterday. "Legally, there was no way I could make a decision" on the basis of the counsel's recommendation, he added.

Community spokesmen said recently the counsel's recommendation--coming after one DEQE official already made a decision--is not administratively proper.

MATEP, the largest co-generation plant in the U.S., is designed to supply energy to 13 area institutions including the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Public Health, and the Affiliated Hospitals Center.