Georgia-Pacific
Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company and subsidiary of Koch Industries. Based in Atlanta, Georgia the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products, and related chemicals with "approximately 300 manufacturing facilities across North America, South America, and Europe." In 2005 the company was acquired by Koch Industries.[1][2]
Pollution
Based on year 2000 data,[3] researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts named Georgia-Pacific as the fifteenth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States. In that year, Georgia-Pacific facilities released more than 22,000,000 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air.[4] Georgia-Pacific has also been linked to some of the United States' worst toxic waste sites.
Like all large manufacturers, each year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires Georgia-Pacific to report publicly quantities of certain chemicals that facilities release into the air, water, and onto land. For the most recent reporting period – 2006 (as of Spring 2008) – the company showed a 12 percent decrease in these releases from 2005. From 2000 to 2006, Georgia-Pacific has reduced its total releases and transfers of these specified compounds by 26 percent.
In 1995, the company drew criticism for allegedly pressuring the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to approve legislation that would allow Georgia-Pacific to "avoid installing pollution gear at many of its plants."[5]. In 1996, Georgia-Pacific agreed to pay for at least US$26,000,000 in environmental measures and $6,000,000 in fines to settle allegations that particle emissions from its facilities endangered people and crops in the southeastern U.S.[6]
Georgia-Pacific is also involved in several remediation sites, many of which were landfills used by other manufacturers, municipalities and other businesses, and individuals. Two of the primary remediation sites - the Fox River in Wisconsin and Kalamazoo River in Michigan - involve the cleanup of PCBs. Many years ago, GP predecessor companies and others recycled wastepaper, including carbonless paper, into other paper products. At the time, carbonless paper was made with a chemical containing PCBs. The PCBs were washed from the paper and discharged in the mills' wastewater to the rivers.[7]
In 2007, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced legal agreements among the EPA, Michigan, Georgia-Pacific, and Millennium Holdings requiring the companies to clean up an estimated $21,000,000 worth of environmental damage to the Plainwell Impoundment Area. Another settlement required an additional $15,000,000 of environmental work on the Kalamazoo River Superfund site. [8][9]
- ↑ Company Overview, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, accessed September, 2009.
- ↑ This intro was transplanted from Sourcewatch: https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Georgia-Pacific
- ↑ "Political Economy Research Institute Toxic 100 Corporate Toxics Information Project Technical Notes" Univ of Mass Website, September 2009
- ↑ "THE TOXIC 100: Top Corporate Air Polluters in the United States" Political Economy Research Institute Website, September 2009
- ↑ "Tall Timber and the EPA" New York Times, May 21, 1995
- ↑ "U.S. and Georgia-Pacific Settle Environmental Case" New York Times, July 19, 1996
- ↑ "Green Bay Operations/Environmental" Georgia-Pacific Website, September 2009
- ↑ "EPA: Georgia-Pacific to fund new cleanup work at Michigan's Kalamazoo River Superfund Site" Environmental Protection Agency, September 2009
- ↑ This section was transplanted from Sourcewatch: https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Georgia-Pacific