Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180098
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The paper maker, which operates a major bleached-paperboard plant in Covington, said the group used outdated public information in its study and misinterpreted information the company had provided.
Joining Westvaco on the Council on Economic Priorities' list of the nation's worst corporate polluters were Exxon Corp., Union Carbide Corp., International Paper Co., Westinghouse Electric Corp., Southern Co., Texaco Inc. and Maxxam Inc.
The council evaluated more than 100 companies in industries that have the potential to cause environmental damage and based its findings on toxic releases into the air and water, environmental cleanup efforts and other measures. It named - but didn't rank - the worst polluters and also made suggestions as to how they can improve.
Westvaco and the other companies criticized the council's methods.
"Westvaco continues to make excellent progress in reducing chemical emission," the company said in a statement. The New York company said it cut all its chemical emissions by 60 percent between 1988 and 1993 and already has voluntarily exceeded Environmental Protection Agency goals for reducing chemical emissions by 1995. The EPA has recognized Westvaco with a certificate for its achievements, the company said.
The company also is an industry leader in forest management, honored more than 40 times since 1980 by public and private groups, Westvaco said.
Since 1988, the company said it has reduced its dioxin emissions by 96 percent to levels that have been undetectable since 1990. Dioxin, considered among the world's most dangerous chemicals, is created during the bleaching of wood pulp with chlorine, a practice Westvaco has committed to stopping by the year 2000.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
by CNB