from The Cascadia Times
Willamette Industries' Dirty Air
Triggers a Federal Prosecution
After 20 years of violating the Clean Air Act, Willamette
Industries is finally being brought to justice. This story is about how, for
a major segment of the wood products industry, breaking the nation's air quality
laws is how business is done.
by Paul Koberstein and John Paul Williams/Cascadia
Times
Part 1
The EPA seeks $10 million
in fines against Willamette Industries
15 WI building materials plants have violated several air
pollution laws and regulations in Oregon, South Carolina, Arkansas and Louisiana.
A separate case is being prosecuted against a WI pulp and paper mill in Pennsylvania.
The towering smokestacks at WI's mills dominate the skyline,
just as its large payrolls dominate the economies in towns with names like Millersburg,
Oregon, (pop. 2729) Chester, South Carolina, (pop. 7158) and Malvern, Arkansas
(pop. 9256. But WI's smokestacks have also illegally spewed an often invisible
cloud of airborne chemicals, some of which may cause cancer and birth defects,
in these same communities, according to documents obtained from the EPA by Cascadia
Times through the Freedom of Information Act.
Part 2
The nuts and bolts of
the EPA's case against Willamette Industries
A detailed list of allegations against Willamette Industries,
broken down by state
Part 3
"Toxic Snow"
falls on Arkansas town
Meet Buddy Slate and find out why Willamette Industries
built a car wash for the town of Malvern, Arkansas
Part 4
Did the Oregon DEQ
look the other way?
As one group of EPA investigators probed Willamette Industries
and its dirty air, another set of Environmental Protection Agency gumshoes snooped
around the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for its dirty laundry.
Did DEQ law-enforcers spend too much time in the donut shop?
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