‘All we do is bend tubes into crazy shapes for trucks’
An Oregon company determined to sell illegal “defeat devices” paid a heavy price.
Diamond Eye Manufacturing in August settled a case It agreed to pay more than $265,000 with the Environmental Protection Agency and post notice of the settlement on its website for eight weeks.
The company was forced to destroy its inventory of illegal parts. It was also required to inform customers that it would not be able to provide technical support or cover warranty claims for illegal parts, according to the agreement. EPA.
The regulator said the Athena-based business sold 33,134 illegal parts from 2017 to 2019 that “allow the removal of emission control components from a vehicle”.
Oregon Capital Chronicle The EPA reportedly went after manufacturers after first targeting distributors of the products.
“All we do is bend pipes into crazy shapes for trucks. We manufacture the pipes,” says James Smith, Diamond Eye’s director of marketing and information technology. said exit. “Whether you reassemble or weld contamination equipment depends on the installer and the individual.”
The argument seems disingenuous at best. As Capital Chronicle reported, Diamond Eye sold pipes marketed by distributors as “cat wipes.” The catalytic converter is a device. Captures harmful gases removes them from exhaust and makes them less harmful before they are discharged into the environment.
In December, engine maker Cummins agreed to pay $1.675 billion to settle a Justice Department lawsuit accusing it of installing these override or deletion devices in nearly a million Ram trucks, in violation of the Clean Air Act.
In September, the Department of Justice cracked down on eBay for illegal devices, accusing it of facilitating the sale of hundreds of thousands of products that allowed drivers to engage in the dangerous practice of “coal rolling.”
The EPA also settled with six other companies that sold defeat devices, but only one faced fines in Diamond Eye’s range: Competition Specialties, based in Auburn, Washington, paid $225,368.
IT noted In vehicles without emissions control, nitrogen oxides, non-methane hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter increased by 310, 1,140, 120 and 40 times, respectively. Over the past four years, it has settled 172 civil cases, resulting in $55.5 million in fines and 17 criminal cases.
“Defeat devices cause more air pollution than vehicles to harm Americans’ health, and EPA is vigilant in holding organizations that sell these illegal products accountable,” said Martha Guzman, EPA Pacific Southwest regional administrator. in question. “These settlements demonstrate EPA’s commitment to enforcing critical environmental laws that protect clean air and public health.”
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