By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff

A dehydrated squirrel monkey died at a Harvard Medical School research facility in December -- the third monkey to die at the New England Primate Research Center in 19 months -- and animals there also suffered a fracture and other injuries over the past three months, according to a federal inspection report released today.

The US Department of Agriculture cited Harvard for three serious incidents, which occurred after the medical school had responded to a series of other problems by replacing the centers leadership. Harvard could face fines or receive a warning because of the failures to comply with federal animal welfare regulations.

Harvard officials and the Agriculture Department report, posted on the agencys website, attributed the December 27 death and the non-fatal dehydration of a second monkey to employees failure to check a water dispensing system that had malfunctioned sometime after both monkeys arrived at the center Dec. 7.

Another squirrel monkeys leg was fractured in January, when it was caught under a door. And a group of rhesus macaques escaped from their pen in December, resulting in an injury to one monkeys foot.

The Agriculture Department considers all three incidents direct noncompliance issues, meaning there is a direct, adverse impact on the welfare of animals, or the high potential of such an effect. In fiscal year 2011, there were 25 direct noncompliance issues at research facilities nationwide.

Theyve had a tough stretch, and its certainly something thats gotten our attention and we look forward to them correcting the situation, said David Sacks, a USDA spokesman.

William W. Chin, executive dean for research at Harvard Medical School, acknowledged in an interview that there have been deficiencies in what weve been doing, leading to a number of incidents. These are regrettable. ... I would say theyre frankly unacceptable.

Chin discussed the new issues and broader problems at the primate center during a 45-minute interview earlier this month, on the condition that the Globe would not report his comments until the Agriculture Department posted the latest findings. It was the first time a medical school official had agreed to discuss the situation at the Southborough research center in depth.

He said problems with management systems and the implementation of basic procedures were discovered through a review launched in the summer of 2010, after the first monkey died. Those issues are being addressed, Chin said, through the change in the leadership team last September, disciplinary actions, new policies and procedures, and the formation of a six-member team that will perform continual reviews, training, and testing of staff, and conduct random audits.

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A third monkey death reported at Harvard’s New England Primate Research Center