Two Idaho-based companies specializing in diesel parts and their owner have admitted to selling and installing unauthorized so-called "defeat devices," which disable vehicle emissions controls, and have consented to a payment of $1 million. The companies agreed to institute compliance programs and refrain from manufacturing, selling, or installing any device that undermines a vehicle's emissions controls, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) press release said.
"Nearly a decade after EPA began cracking down on illegal defeat devices that violate the Clean Air Act, there is no excuse for companies to be continuing to cheat on vehicle emissions and putting the health of the environment and our communities at risk," said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
GDP Tuning LLC, Custom Auto of Rexburg LLC (dba Gorilla Performance), and their owner, Barry Pierce, all based in Ohio, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to Clean Air Act violations, the release said. GDP Tuning's guilty plea is for conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, while Gorilla Performance and Pierce pleaded guilty to tampering with a diesel truck's emissions control system, including the monitoring device. The plea agreement stipulates that the companies and Pierce will pay the $1 million fine, and Pierce could face up to two years in prison, the release said.
An EPA investigation revealed that GDP Tuning and Pierce purchased and sold tens of thousands of tuning devices and accompanying software, which, together, tampered with vehicles’ onboard diagnostic (OBD) systems. This tampering interfered with emissions control equipment detection, allowing for their removal without triggering OBD system alerts (which turn on the "check engine" light on a vehicle dashboard and can put it into "limp mode," which slows the vehicle down). Gorilla Performance, run by Pierce, operated the retail shop and auto repair facility where customers' trucks were tampered with, the EPA release said.
Diesel emissions contain hazardous compounds that negatively impact human health and the environment. As a result, tampering with emissions controls in diesel trucks significantly increases emissions of pollutants like particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and non-methane hydrocarbons, the EPA said. A fully deleted truck with removed emissions equipment was found to emit a 310-fold increase in nitrogen oxide emissions, a 1,400-fold increase in non-methane hydrocarbon emissions, a 120-fold increase in carbon monoxide emissions, and a 40-fold increase in particulate matter emissions. These emissions contribute to respiratory ailments such as asthma and lung cancer and also affect the health of vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions, the EPA said.
