Newsroom
Speeches - By Date
ENFORCEMENT SETTLEMENT PACIFIC
07/18/1996| Carol M. Browner Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Enforcement Settlement with Georgia Pacific Corporation Washington, D.C. Prepared for Delivery July 18, 1996 I am pleased to join the Attorney General in announcing today's important environmental settlement with the Georgia Pacific Corporation. Today's settlement will have a significant impact on public health and our environment -- in communities in the immediate neighborhood of Georgia Pacific facilities, in areas hundreds of miles downwind of those facilities, and in our Southeastern States as a whole. Through this settlement, Georgia Pacific will reduce emissions of ozone-related air pollution by more than 5,000 tons per year at 11 facilities in eight states. The company will also be required to take an in-depth look at its operations to search for other violations of the Clean Air Act. In addition, the company will help to fund critical research on air pollution in the Southern Appalachians and undertake innovative environmental projects to improve air quality in the Southeastern U.S. Ozone poses a hazard to human health, especially for the young, the elderly, and those with respiratory ailments. In addition, ozone can cause environmental damage to crops, trees, and other plants. National parks and wilderness areas in the Southern Appalachians are among the nation's "hot spots" for environmental ozone damage. Today's settlement will help to address these important problems. Enforcement actions like today's settlement help to ensure that no company gains an economic advantage from polluting the public's air, the public's water. Today's settlement requires Georgia Pacific to play by the rules and install the same pollution control devices that other wood products companies have already installed at similar facilities. The settlement of this case continues the commitment that Attorney General Reno and I made in 1993 to take vigorous action to address widespread violations of the Clean Air Act by large national companies. National cases of this nature, which are beyond the capability of individual states, are a vital part of enforcing this nation's environmental laws. With this settlement, we send a clear message that pollution does not pay. |
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
