Source: AFP
US engine maker Cummins Inc has agreed to pay $1.67 billion to settle claims that it installed devices to defeat emissions controls in hundreds of thousands of truck engines, the Justice Department said on Friday.
The penalty is the largest ever for a violation of the Clean Air Act, which requires vehicle and engine manufacturers to comply with emissions standards, the ministry said.
Cummins, which is based in Columbus, Indiana, was accused of installing defeat devices in the engines — components or software that can bypass emissions controls or render them inoperative.
Nearly one million engines produced since 2013 for RAM pickup trucks, manufactured by Stellantis, have reportedly had defeat devices and auxiliary emission control devices installed. Stellantis did not immediately respond to an AFP query.
“The Department of Justice is committed to vigorously enforcing environmental laws that protect the American people from harmful pollutants,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
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“The types of devices we allege Cummins installed in its engines to circumvent federal environmental laws have a significant and harmful impact on human health and safety,” Garland said.
“Our preliminary estimates suggest that the destruction devices in some Cummins engines have caused them to produce thousands of tons of excessive nitrogen oxide emissions,” he said.
“The cumulative effect of these pollutants can, after long-term exposure, lead to respiratory problems such as asthma and respiratory infections.”
German carmaker Volkswagen was found by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2015 to have installed emissions-defying software in diesel-powered cars in a scandal that became known as “Dieselgate”.
The Justice Department said the $1.67 billion Cummins will pay to the U.S. government and the state of California is the second largest environmental penalty ever, trailing only the more than $20 billion settlement reached with BP in 2015 for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Source: AFP