YORK COUNTY, S.C. (From news reports) -- The New-Indy plant in York County was recently hit with a fine by South Carolina's Department of Environmental Services for what the department reported as a violation of state regulations.

The October 2025 enforcement reported by SC DES, details an incident tied back to March 2024. The department said New-Indy told regulators it couldn't locate forms used to document semiannual visual inspections for different pieces of on-site equipment. In May of that year, SC DES said it received the results of an approved source test conducted around the time New-Indy said it couldn't find the forms.

SC DEC notes the test was approved by the now-dissolved South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, or SC DHEC. That agency dissolved when it was restructured into SC DES and the South Carolina Department of Public Health in July 2024.

SC DEC also said New-Indy filed a required data substitution plan in January 2025. However, the department said New-Indy was handed a $7,000 fine because it failed to limit sulfur dioxide emissions as shown in the March 2024 test. State regulators also said that from July 2023 through December 2023, New Indy failed to document and report semiannual visual inspections and failed to submit that data substitution plan at least 90 days prior ot the start-up of affected sources.

In addition to the fine, SC DEC has required New-Indy to ensure compliance with emissions limits, visual emission inspection and reporting requirements, and data substitution plan requirements pursuant to its permits and applicable regulations. SC DEC notes that New-Indy did show compliance a day after the March 2024 data was submitted.

Emissions from the New-Indy plant, which produces paper and pulp products, have been the concern of residents for several years since an odor was detected by nearby residents in 2021. In June 2024, the company paid about $103 million to settle claims from a class-action lawsuit involving around 6,000 residents.