A Waukesha firm will pay $67,000 in fines after reaching a settlement with the state in a lawsuit over air pollution violations at its plant.

H.O. Bostrom Co. Inc. also will install air pollution control equipment costing an estimated $250,000 by July to avoid paying additional fines, according to the settlement reached with the state Department of Justice in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit filed in December charged that the manufacturer has been polluting the air "for more than six years" by not having required emission control systems on some of its equipment. The lawsuit also contended that representatives of the company lied by claiming that it had two systems in place to limit trichloroethylene emissions.

..."Bostrom's agreement to replace its solvent-based degreasing line with an aqueous system will result in cleaner air in Waukesha County," Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said in a prepared statement Wednesday. "Being in compliance with Wisconsin's clean air standards is not only a matter of public health and environmental protection, it is required under penalty of law."