This old paper mill is the nation's worst climate polluter

A World War II-era boiler in Virginia is at the center of a growing debate over the paper industry’s role in climate change — and how much pollution goes uncounted due to loopholes in federal reporting rules.

The Smurfit Westrock paper mill in Covington, a 126-year-old facility located north of Roanoke, released more climate-warming pollution in 2023 than any other paper mill in the country, according to a sweeping new report by the Environmental Integrity Project.

The watchdog group found that the facility reported emitting 970,084 metric tons of greenhouse gases last year — but in reality, it released more than 2.5 million tons. The discrepancy stems from an Environmental Protection Agency policy that allows facilities to omit emissions from the burning of wood and wood byproducts, known as “biogenic” fuels.

“This plant is burning dirty fuels using a boiler built in 1940, and the pollution is hitting communities and the climate alike,” said Jen Duggan, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project. “Even in the digital age, we need paper products. But there is no reason a clean sheet of paper needs to be made with dirty fuels and antiquated methods.”

The Smurfit Westrock press office did not to respond to an email seeking comment Monday.

The report, titled “A Paper Trail of Pollution,” paints a dire portrait of the U.S. pulp and paper industry.

Over a six-month period, researchers reviewed thousands of public records and visited mills across the country, ultimately studying the 185 largest paper and pulp facilities in the United States. Their findings suggest that many of these plants are operating with outdated infrastructure, lax oversight and little accountability for their true environmental impact.

Among the most striking revelations is that nearly three-quarters of the mills rely on outdated boilers, with an average age of 41 years. One of the oldest, built in 1928, remains in use at a mill in Longview, Washington. In contrast, experts recommend replacing industrial boilers after about 15 years. At more than 40% of the facilities studied, at least one boiler was a half-century old or older.

The Covington mill, which employs several hundred people and is a fixture of the local economy, has long drawn criticism from nearby residents for the foul odors, soot and water pollution it produces.

In 2023, it was the nation’s top emitter of methane — a greenhouse gas more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide over a 20-year period — releasing more than 214,000 metric tons. The mill also ranked third among U.S. paper facilities for hydrochloric acid emissions, releasing an estimated 170,000 pounds.

The plant’s impact extends beyond the air. State records document at least a dozen incidents over the past five years in which locals reported dark, cloudy, or contaminated discharges — including black liquor, a toxic wood-processing byproduct — flowing into the nearby Jackson River, a tributary of the James River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.

One complaint, filed in November 2022, warned of “polluted water destroying the Upper James River fishery.” The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality dismissed the complaint.

Victoria Higgins, Virginia director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said the Covington facility is a clear example of how outdated equipment and regulatory gaps are allowing the paper industry to skirt accountability.

“Pollution from industrial factories burning trees is an under-counted source of climate-warming pollution,” she said. “In order to deliver on the promise of clean air and a stable climate in Virginia, we need to ensure facilities like the more than century-old Smurfit Westrock mill are moving to cleaner energy sources.”

An industry steeped in tradition

The American paper industry traces its roots to 1690, when the first mill opened in Germantown, Pennsylvania, using discarded cotton rags and waterwheels for power. By 1810, about 185 mills were operating across the country, but a shortage of rags pushed papermakers to experiment with alternative fibers like straw, bark and eventually wood.

With the advent of mechanical wood grinders in the 19th century, wood pulp became the industry standard, and the U.S. quickly rose to become the world’s top paper producer. That growth came at a cost — mill operations contributed to large-scale deforestation, including the cutting of tens of millions of acres of woodland in a single year by some companies.

Today, the U.S. has more trees than it did 50 years ago, thanks in part to replanting efforts by the industry, which now plants over a billion trees annually. The modern paper sector is dominated by a few major corporations and concentrated in states like Wisconsin, Georgia, and Alabama. More than half of paper produced in the U.S. is now used for packaging and wrapping.

Federal law currently allows the paper industry to exclude emissions from the combustion of biogenic materials — such as wood, wood chips, and black liquor — on the theory that trees will regrow and eventually recapture the carbon released during combustion.

But environmental groups and scientists increasingly question that logic, particularly when emissions from burning these fuels are both large and immediate, while regrowth can take decades.

Nationwide, the 185 mills studied reported a total of 33.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions to the EPA in 2023. But after factoring in emissions from biogenic fuels — which the EPA does not currently require mills to report — the Environmental Integrity Project estimates that the true number is closer to 115 million tons. That’s more than three times the reported total.

Other pollutants are also under-regulated. In 2020, the mills collectively released more than 46,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, a pollutant linked to heart and lung problems, including premature death. Many mills, including some of the worst offenders, lack basic pollution control devices such as scrubbers that can significantly reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.

The latter chemical is responsible for the rotten egg-like smell associated with many mills, including the one in Covington, and can trigger nausea, headaches and respiratory issues.

Hydrogen sulfide pollution is especially concentrated. In 2023, 90 of the mills reported emitting a combined total of eight million pounds of the chemical, with nearly half of that coming from just 12 plants. Six of the top 10 emitters of hydrogen sulfide across all industries last year were paper mills, the report said.

The report also found that regulatory enforcement has been inconsistent and often toothless.

A third of the 185 mills studied had an air pollution violation in the last three years. Over the past five years, 95 of them were subject to 267 enforcement actions, which resulted in just $7.4 million in total penalties — a modest sum for an industry with multibillion-dollar revenues.

Pollution not unique to Virginia plants

Beyond Virginia, the report includes case studies of plants in Washington and South Carolina, where local residents have filed thousands of odor complaints, voiced worries about health risks, and called on regulators to tighten enforcement.

In Port Townsend, Washington, a mill has spent 12 consecutive quarters in violation of the Clean Air Act. In Catawba, South Carolina, residents have logged nearly 50,000 odor complaints since 2018 against a mill now owned by a private equity group led by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Duggan and her colleagues argue that the solution lies in modernization and tougher oversight. The report calls for pulp and paper mills to replace aging boilers with zero-emission industrial heat systems and shift toward cleaner energy sources. It also urges a greater commitment to using recycled paper over virgin wood, which requires more energy and water and generates significantly more emissions.

According to the group, manufacturing a ton of cardboard from recycled materials requires half the energy, 32% less water, and produces just a quarter of the climate pollution.

The study’s authors also demand an end to the biogenic loophole in EPA reporting rules and warn that the issue could worsen if efforts to eliminate or weaken greenhouse gas reporting requirements under President Donald Trump’s administration succeed.

“The American paper industry should modernize these plants to use cleaner and more efficient power systems and increase recycling to reduce climate pollution and protect the health of nearby communities,” Duggan said. “And this industry should not be allowed to hide its climate pollution.”

For residents of Covington and other communities living in the shadow of aging mills, the hope is that attention from this report will bring pressure for long-overdue reforms — before the paper trail of pollution grows any longer.