BOSTON -- Interprint Inc. of Pittsfield, MA, a manufacturer of décor paper for surface laminates, has agreed to pay a penalty of $80,000 and to spend $305,000 to replace old, polluting wood stoves in western Massachusetts to settle claims by the US Environmental Protection Agency that it violated the federal Clean Air Act.

The EPA said that since it began taking action in 2007, that Interprint has reformulated its inks to reduce VOC and hazardous air pollutant content and has demonstrated that its new inks provide emissions reductions equivalent to those achieved through stringent add-on controls. As a result, the EPA said Interprint’s new formulations represent the lowest achievable emission rate.

The EPA said Interprint's infraction stems to when it built a printing facility in Pittsfield in 2004 without applying for a permit required under the Clean Air Act’s new source review provisions. In addition, EPA said Interprint began operating the new facility in 2005 without complying with new source review requirements for VOC emissions, Title V operating permit requirements and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Printing and Publishing Facilities.

As part of its settlement, Interprint, which is owned by a German company, will provide a voucher - typically of $1,000 a household to - provide area homeowners with an incentive to replace their pre-1988 wood stoves with EPA-certified wood stoves or other cleaner, more efficient home heating equipment such as gas or propane heaters.

“The Pittsfield area will benefit from this wood stove change-out project,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England regional office. “Homeowners will get help with buying new wood stoves, which will burn cleaner and more efficiently. This project will create green jobs, reduce fuel consumption, and improve air quality in communities by reducing the harmful pollutants that come from wood smoke.”

Read the full press release of the EPA's Clean Air Act settlement with Interprint.