OKLAHOMA BRIEFS Anchor Glass agrees to EPA settlement

School supply donations end Thursday

Dollar Tree Inc. shoppers have until the end of Thursday to buy and donate school supplies at participating stores to support Operation Homefront, the retailer has announced.

Operation Homefront distributes the supplies to military children at more than 60 Back-to-School Brigade expos and at numerous additional local community partner events across the nation.

Dollar Tree has collection bins at each of its Oklahoma City area stores for shoppers to deposit items they wish to donate.

The retailer estimates families spent $500 per student last year to get the average child ready to go back to school, and stated Operation Homefront helps alleviate that cost for military families by providing them with backpacks packed with various

supplies, such as pens, pencils, paper, scissors and binders.

Back-to-School Brigade has distributed more than 300,000 backpacks to military families since 2008, the release stated.

Rebuilt Braum’s store to reopen

EDMOND — The Braum’s on Danforth Road in Edmond will reopen at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

The new store, opening six months after closing to be torn down and rebuilt, remains at 1001 E Danforth Road.

A reopening celebration will take place Aug. 20-26. During that week, scratch cards will be given out for a chance to win a free TV, gaming console, laptop computer, as well as free food and other merchandise.

The store features a new design with nearly 6,000 square feet, double drivethru windows and seating for about 80.

The new location brings

the total Braum’s stores to 280. All stores are in a five-state area: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.

HENRYETTA — Anchor Glass Container Corp. has reached a proposed settlement agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Justice Department and two states, including Oklahoma, that will resolve accusations the company had been violating clean air standards at six of its plants, including one in Henryetta.

Officials said the settlement would require Anchor to install pollution controls to cut emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter at the plants, which make bottles for beer, liquor and other beverages, plus jars and other containers.

As part of the settlement, Anchor would be required to convert six of its furnaces to run on an oxy-fuel process,

using pure oxygen instead of just air. It also would be required to install scrubber systems at two furnaces and to install two new electrostatic precipitators.

It also would be required to change out wood-burning appliances in a number of homes in Minnesota and upgrade its fleet of diesel engines. Officials estimate the agreement would reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from the plants by 2,000 tons per year. Officials said Indiana was the other state to participate in the proposed settlement, which still must be approved by a federal court judge in Florida.

A release issued by the EPA on the settlement did not say how much the government expects Anchor will spend to make all of the upgrades required by the agreement. But it does state Anchor also would be required to pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million if the deal is approved, with that being split between the U.S. government and the two states.