
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 16, 1990                   TAG: 9006160411
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

EPA CLEARS WESTVACO OVER DIOXIN

The Westvaco Corp. paper mill in Covington should be deleted from a federal list of toxic polluters because of measures it has taken to reduce dioxin levels discharged into the Jackson River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended.

Westvaco was among 39 Virginia industries, municipalities and federal bases listed in March by the EPA for their pollution discharges into state waters.

However, the Covington mill would not have been listed if the EPA had seen information submitted by Westvaco and misplaced by the agency, EPA regional administrator Edwin B. Erickson said in a letter to the Virginia Water Control Board dated May 31.

Dioxin is a toxic byproduct generated by chlorine bleaching of paper pulp. Dioxin concentrations in fish from the Jackson River prompted the Virginia Department of Health in December to advise people not to eat fish taken from the river east of Covington or from a portion of the James River.

Westvaco proved that it had reduced dioxin levels in its paper pulp and waste water to below the detection limit of 10 parts per quadrillion, said Dale Wismer, chief of the EPA's General Permits Section.

The company submitted the information to the EPA in time for consideration, but "we were unaware of the additional data," Wismer said.

No other pollution source will be considered for removal from Virginia's list, Wismer said. "This was a very unique situation," he said.

Westvaco has invested about $11 million at the Covington mill to reduce dioxin levels.

"We began implementing a dioxin program as a voluntary effort long before any regulation was in place. That effort was successful," Robert Crockett, a spokesman for Westvaco in Covington, said Friday.

The EPA also urged the Water Control Board to amend Westvaco's waste-discharge permit to reflect the disputed dioxin pollution standard adopted last month.

The water board voted to adopt a water quality standard of 1.2 parts per quadrillion.

The Environmental Defense Fund and three landowners along the river filed notice last week that they intend to sue the water board in Richmond Circuit Court to overturn the standard.

However, the EPA has recommended that the water board amend Westvaco's permit based on the pending state limit.

by CNB