Louisiana-Pacific to Pay Fines in Pollution Case

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. pleaded guilty Wednesday to pollution violations and agreed to pay $37 million in penalties, including the biggest criminal fine in the 28-year history of the Clean Air Act.

The Portland, Ore.-based timber company was fined $5.5 million under the Clean Air Act for higher-than-allowed emissions from a plant in Colorado that makes floorboards and siding.

It was fined an additional $31 million for offenses such as doctoring reports, tampering with pollution-monitoring equipment and lying to inspectors.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock, who approved the plea bargain, also placed the company on probation for five years.

Louisiana-Pacific will also donate $500,000 to environmental groups under the agreement.

The company said it would take a $14-million charge, or 13 cents per share, against its earnings for the second quarter ending June 30, to cover costs of the agreement. It will pay the $37 million over five years.

Outside the courthouse, Louisiana-Pacific Chief Executive Mark Suwyn apologized, saying the violations “should not have happened.” He said he was hired two years ago to take the company in “a different direction.”

A federal grand jury indicted Louisiana-Pacific in June 1995 on charges of tampering with environmental monitoring devices and making false statements to officials about emissions at the Colorado plant.

Since the indictment, Louisiana has installed pollution control equipment, trained employees and expanded environmental and product quality audits at the plant.

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Associated Press and Reuters were used in compiling this report.