The Maryland Department of the Environment says Memphis-based Verso Corp. will pay a $10,000 settlement for two chemical spills that tainted the Potomac River last fall.

Agency spokesman Jay Apperson said the amount is the same as a fine the agency proposed in February.

The spills at Verso's paper mill in the western Maryland town of Luke included 9,500 gallons of synthetic latex on Sept. 23 and some concentrated red dye on Oct. 2.

The chemicals went through a wastewater treatment plant before reaching the river. The latex spill prompted two West Virginia communities to close their drinking water intakes before Maryland regulators concluded there was no public health threat.

Apperson says Verso had complied with agency requests for measures to reduce the chance of future spills.

Source: Associated Press