March 14th, 2016 by WCBC Radio

The federal government and a Georgia papermaker are proposing a $1.6 million settlement of a 16-year-old, air-pollution lawsuit against a Western Maryland paper mill. Attorneys for the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and WestRock Co. of Norcross, Georgia, filed the proposed consent decree last week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

WestRock is a successor to Westvaco Corp., which owned the Luke mill when the government alleged Clean Air Act violations in 2000.

The agreement would require Westvaco and its successors to make two payments of $800,000 each to improve Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia.

The agreement includes a 30-day public comment period starting with the pending publication of the notice in the Federal Register. The government would then seek court approval.