Clean Water Act discharge permit · NPDES MA0004901

BLACKSTONE STEAM PLANT, Cambridge, MA: NPDES MA0004901 discharge permit, effluent exceedances, inspections, penalties

Administratively continuedPermit status
MinorDischarger class
6Pollutants under a numeric limit
2Pollutants with an effluent exceedance

BLACKSTONE STEAM PLANT, held by HARVARD UNIVERSITY, holds NPDES permit MA0004901, which discharges to Charles River. EPA’s file records it issued April 22, 2014 and expiring June 30, 2019. The status and dates are as EPA’s permit file stood when Velarion loaded it (October 14, 2026); EPA’s free Detailed Facility Report on ECHO carries the permit’s current standing.

Identity

Facility as filed	BLACKSTONE STEAM PLANT
Permittee as filed	HARVARD UNIVERSITY
NPDES ID	MA0004901
Permit status	Administratively continued (past its expiration date and still in force until reissued)
Permit type	Individual permit
Discharger class	Minor discharger
Facility type	Not a publicly owned treatment works
Issued	April 22, 2014
Expiration date	June 30, 2019
Address	Cambridge, MA 02139
Receiving water	CHARLES RIVER
Receiving water impaired	303(D) Listed
Subwatershed	Charles River-Frontal Boston Harbor (HUC 010900010704)
SIC	4911 – Electric Services
Other EPA IDs (FRS)	RCRA handler MAD006953665; ICIS-AIR source MA0000002511900092

Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES permit file (ECHO download) and EPA’s NAICS/SIC and component files, the same download; cross-program IDs from EPA’s FRS facility-registry crosswalk.

Effluent limits and exceedances

9Pollutants on file
6Under a numeric limit
8With a violation of any kind
2With an effluent exceedance

An effluent exceedance is a discharge monitoring report value over the permit’s numeric limit (EPA’s violation code E90). A violation of any kind also counts a report not filed. Each row is EPA’s own count for that pollutant.

Pollutant or measure	Limits	Violations, any kind	Effluent exceedances	Latest exceedance	Largest exceedance, as filed
Chlorine, total residual	0	66	5	February 29, 2004	140% over the limit
pH	2	11	5	May 31, 2022
Flow, in conduit or thru treatment plant	2	6	0
Solids, total suspended	4	4	0
Nitrogen, ammonia total [as N]	2	2	0
Temperature, water deg. fahrenheit	0	2	0
Copper, total [as Cu]	0	2	0
Oxygen, dissolved [DO]	1	1	0
Priority Pollutants	2	0	0

Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES limits and effluent violations files (ECHO download); up to 60 rows shown, most exceedances first.

Inspections, violations and enforcement

0Single-event violations

EPA’s single-event violation file, as loaded, holds no violation for NPDES MA0004901.

Velarion’s copy of EPA’s ICIS-NPDES files does not include the inspections, formal enforcement actions and informal enforcement actions files, so this page shows none of them. EPA’s free Detailed Facility Report on ECHO lists this permit’s inspections, enforcement actions and penalties.

Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES violation, inspection and enforcement files (ECHO download); up to 50 rows of each shown, newest first.

Watch this permit

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EPA publishes a free Detailed Facility Report for every permit on ECHO: its compliance status quarter by quarter, its inspections, and its enforcement actions and penalties. EPA also sends free notices of new inspections and enforcement actions through ECHO Notify; enter NPDES ID MA0004901 there.

Nearby on the register

Figures from EPA’s ICIS-NPDES download, loaded October 14, 2026.

This public-records page covers Clean Water Act discharge permit NPDES MA0004901 for the BLACKSTONE STEAM PLANT in Cambridge, MA, held by HARVARD UNIVERSITY and discharging to the CHARLES RIVER, with the permit listed as administratively continued. The page lists a discharger class of 6, 2 pollutants under a numeric limit, and 2 pollutants with an effluent exceedance.