People who have lived near big factories for years know that there have been changes in the manner in which these plants have operated over the years. Before federal air pollution laws went into effect, it was not uncommon to see smoke stacks releasing black soot streams into the air. And everyone knows that air pollution can cause sickness, ranging from mild headaches, to asthma and other respiratory problems, to life threatening illness.

This is why communities must hope that their industrial neighbors are committed to being good, law abiding neighbors. And the vast majority are indeed. When violations occur, they are often accidental violations. On the rare occasion that they are intentional, often the wrongdoers are small companies that might not be able to afford to comply with the strict letter of the law. That is why paper giant Louisiana-Pacific's recent admission that it lied about air pollution releases for years, and its agreement to pay $37 million in fines, is quite incredible.

COMPANY VIOLATED FEDERAL AIR POLLUTION LAWS
The federal Air Pollution Control Act, which is also called the Clean Air Act, is designed to prevent air pollution discharges at unhealthy levels. The law operates by issuing permits to companies allowing them to emit specified levels of air pollutants into the air, usually through their smoke stacks.

Many manufacturers must emit some pollutants into the air as part of their manufacturing process. Though it would be ideal to eliminate all pollutants from the air, the Clean Air Act recognizes that is infeasible. Instead, companies are actually allowed to release specified amounts of certain pollutants into the air. The precise level of authorized pollution is set forth in permits issued by the government for each smoke stack.

The Clean Air Act is designed to protect communities from the unhealthy affects of unregulated air pollution. The process requires companies to purchase sophisticated air monitoring equipment and to install up-to-date pollution control technology. More than anything, the federal law depends on honesty and integrity from companies with permits.

This is so because there are only so many government inspectors in the field, and each one can only be at one place at one time. Therefore, companies must notify the government when there has been a violation or when a problem exists. Since the programs depends on self monitoring, there is a hefty penalty for those companies that look the other way when a violation has taken place. Just ask Louisiana Pacific.

COMPANY VIOLATIONS
Last year Louisiana Pacific had sales of approximately $2.5 billion. It could well afford to maintain proper air pollution control equipment and to obey the law. Nonetheless, last month the paper manufacturing giant pleaded guilty to fraud and environmental crimes in a federal court in Denver. The company was charged with tampering with air pollution monitoring devices, falsifying reports made to the EPA, and providing false information to EPA inspectors. The company was fined $37 million, the largest fine in the 28 year history of the Clean Air Act. A federal judge also placed the company on probation for five years.

This was not the first environmental run-in for the company. In 1993, Louisiana Pacific paid $11 million dollars in fines to the EPA and was required to install an additional $70 million in pollution control equipment. The pollution near the Denver plant was apparently so bad that the company also paid $2.9 million dollars to four families that were left their homes, allegedly as a result of the factory's air pollution problem.

LESSON FOR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES
In certain cases, the Clean Air Act, as well as other federal and state laws, provides aggrieved citizens with the ability to file suit against polluters to enforce the laws. Many of these statutes allow those who succeed to collect their attorneys fees and the costs associated with filing suit.

People who live near companies that continue to violate environmental laws need to group together and protect themselves in this manner. As the Louisiana Pacific criminal case shows us, no one is too big to be a violator, and no one is so big that they can escape prosecution.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.