Stuart Lieberman, ESQ, USA
http://members.aol.com/NJenvlaw/index.html

People who live near large factories know that there have been changes in the way in which these plants have operated over the past years. Before there were air pollution laws, it was not uncommon for industrial smoke stacks to release streams of black soot into the air. Everyone today knows that air pollution from factories can cause illness: ranging from mild headaches, to asthma and other respiratory problems, to life threatening conditions.

This is why today, communities hope that their industrial neighbors are committed to being good, law abiding neighbors. Modern air pollution laws create strict standards and most companies make good faith efforts to meet and surpass such standards. When violations occur, they are often accidental violations. On the rare occasion that they are intentional, often the wrongdoers are small companies that might not be able to afford to comply with the strict letter of the law.

That is why paper giant Louisiana-Pacific's recent admission that it lied about air pollution discharges for years, illegally belching toxins into a community, and its agreement to pay $37 million in fines, is quite remarkable. This is the largest federal air pollution penalty ever, and apparently, for good reason.

COMPANY VIOLATED FEDERAL AIR POLLUTION LAWS

The paper manufacturing giant pleaded guilty to fraud and environmental crimes in federal court in Denver. The company was charged with tampering with air pollution monitoring devices, falsifying reports made to the EPA, and providing false information to EPA inspectors. It was fined $37 million, the largest fine in the 28 year history of the Clean Air Act. The judge also placed the company on probation for five years.

Last year Louisiana Pacific had sales of approximately $2.5 billion. It could well afford to maintain proper air pollution control equipment and to obey the law. Based on its recent past history, no one should be too surprised by these transgressions.

In 1993, Louisiana Pacific paid $11 million dollars in fines to the EPA and was required to install an additional $70 million in pollution control equipment. And the pollution near the Denver plant was apparently so bad that the company also paid $2.9 million dollars to several families that were compelled to leave their homes, allegedly as a result of the factory's air pollution problem.

Louisiana Pacific is the largest U.S. manufacturer of oriented strand board, a plywood substitute made from wood chips that are glued and pressed together. The board is used as subflooring, sheathing and siding on houses. The company employs about 13,000 people in the United States, Canada and Ireland.

A grand jury indicted had also charged the plant's superintendent and mill manager with Clean Air violations stemming from the same Denver plant actions. Both pleaded guilty. The superintendent alleged that he falsified pollution reports under pressure from superiors to increase production.

HOW THE CLEAN AIR ACT OPERATES

The federal Air Pollution Control Act, which is also called the Clean Air Act, is designed to prevent air pollution discharges at unhealthy levels. The law operates by issuing permits to companies allowing them to emit specified levels of air pollutants into the air, usually through their smoke stacks. The precise level of authorized pollution is set forth in permits issued by the government for each smoke stack.

The Clean Air Act is designed to protect communities from the unhealthy affects of unregulated air pollution. The federal law requires companies to purchase sophisticated air monitoring equipment and to install up-to-date pollution control technology.

LESSON FOR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

In certain cases, the Clean Air Act, as well as other federal and state laws, provides aggrieved citizens with the ability to file suit against polluters to enforce the laws. Many of these statutes allow those who succeed to collect their attorneys fees and the costs associated with filing suit.

People who live near companies that continue to violate environmental laws often work cooperatively to protect themselves buying filing suit against polluters. By working together, these people can share the costs of an attorney, of experts, and other costs necessary to pursue this kind of lawsuit. As the Louisiana Pacific criminal case demonstrates, even cardboard giants cannot escape the long arm of the law.

Published: July 28, 1998

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