"Federal officials announced two major settlements on Thursday for reducing emissions from 28 glass and cement plants across the country.

The plants were found to be violating the Clean Air Act by emitting excessive amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter each year, said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s office of enforcement and compliance assurance.

Each company will spend more than $100 million in installing pollution control equipment to lower emissions, the E.P.A. and the Justice Department said. Together the two will also pay a combined $7.2 million in fines.

The settlements involved 15 plants owned by Saint-Gobain Containers, the second-largest manufacturer of container glass manufacturer in the country and 13 plants owned by the Lafarge Company, the nation’s second-largest manufacturer of Portland cement."

Sindya N. Bhanoo reports for Green Inc. in the New York Times January 21, 2010. [2]