General Electric to pay $2.25 million for air pollution

WATERFORD, N.Y. (AP) - General Electric Co. has agreed to pay a $2.25 million penalty in releasing potentially unsafe levels of air pollution from a hazardous waste incinerator in upstate New York and submitting false pollution control records.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the settlement Wednesday for violations at GE's former silicone plant in Waterford, 10 miles north of Albany.

The Justice Department says GE employees manually overrode the plant's automatic waste feed cutoff system nearly 1,900 times between 2006 and 2007. The override allowed GE to continue to burn hazardous waste in violation of its air pollution permits.

The plant is now owned and operated by Momentive Performance Materials.

GE spokesman David Lurie called the settlement "reasonable" and said no excess air pollution was documented.