COVINGTON, Va. – A new environmental report has placed Covington’s Smurfit WestRock paper mill under intense national scrutiny, calling it the worst climate polluter in the U.S. paper industry. Now, some of the residents who live just steps away from the facility are sharing what it’s like to live around the plant.
For Richard Mynes, who also worked at the mill for 38 years, it was once a harsh environment.
“It was the dirtiest place you could ever think of to work,” Mynes said. “I mean, dusty, very. We’d breathe a lot of dust and dirt. Your white t-shirt would be gray after washing a couple times with the carbon.”
Still, Mynes acknowledged the company made efforts to improve working conditions during his time there.
“We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars putting in big bag filters so that the dust would be filtered,” he said. “I don’t have a monitor on it now, but I was a monitor for years in the carbon department and I know that it’s, I’m gonna say, 90% cleaner than it was.”
Despite those improvements, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) reports the Covington mill emitted about 2.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, nearly three times more than what the Environmental Protection Agency officially lists. The group says the discrepancy stems from a federal loophole that allows mills to exclude emissions from burning wood waste and other biogenic fuels.
The mill has been a fixture in Covington for decades, both an economic lifeline and a source of environmental concern. The EIP report has reignited debate in the community about the balance between environmental health and economic survival.
“Back in the 60s and 70s, it was horrible, but they have toned it down,” said Virginia Shinault, a longtime Covington resident. “If we didn’t have the paper mill, a lot of people would be out of work, and this would be a ghost town. My father and my husband both worked there in construction.”
Smurfit WestRock responded to the report earlier this week, telling 10 News it follows all EPA guidelines and accurately reports both biogenic and fossil fuel emissions as required by federal law.
Still, some residents say more oversight may be needed.
“They’re doing what they’re supposed to do now, but it doesn’t mean the EPA couldn’t tighten measures a little bit,” Mynes said.
Decades later, residents of Covington are living with the dual legacy of the paper mill. A place they say sustained their livelihoods, while also leaving its mark on the air they breathe.
“I’m probably a little hoarse because I’ve been breathing a lot of black dust, acids, and caustics for some time,” Mynes said. “But I don’t smell the smell right now. Maybe I’ve smelled it for enough years that it’s not as bad like it used to be 50 years ago.”