Harvard yesterday filed a petition seeking to overturn a state environmental agency's disapproval of the electric generators planned for the University's $110 million power project.

The state Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (DEQE) last week announced its determination that the generators' expected emissions of nitrogen oxides would raise atmospheric levels of the pollutant so high as to be potentially hazardous to human health.

Diesel Decision

The DEQE has approved the portions of the plant devoted to the production of steam and chilled water, but its decision on the diesel generators is crucial to the project.

Togetherness

Project officials have in the past stressed that the savings the plant is expected to produce depend on its "co-generation" of steam, chilled water and electricity in one facility.

The University's petition calls for a state hearing to review last week's decision. The petition to the DEQE questions the validity of both the evidence on which its disapproval was based, and the state's interpretation of that evidence, L. Edward Lashman, the University's director of external projects, said yesterday.

Question

Lashman said there is a "real question as to whether there is a serious health risk" to be expected from the generator's pollutants. Lashman said last week the state's decision was a very subjective one.

Residents

In a letter on its decision last week, the state noted an "unusually large proportion of individuals, including children, the elderly and persons with chronic lung disease," living in the area that would be affected by the plant's emissions.

Conservation of Energy

The power plant, which is about one-third constructed, is designed to provide energy at a savings to the Medical School and Harvard-affiliated hospitals.

Yesterday, ten days after the DEQE's announcement of its decision, was the deadline for the University to file a petition for a further hearing.