The United States Department of Justice is slamming an Indiana-based engine manufacturing company with a $1.675 billion penalty in a settlement that says the company violated the federal Clean Air Act.
The department alleges Cummins Inc. installed devices that can bypass emissions sensors on 630,000 RAM pickup truck engines, according to a news release Friday. The whopping financial penalty is the largest ever violation since the law was enacted in 1963 to protect the nation’s air quality.
“The types of devices we allege that Cummins installed in its engines to cheat federal environmental laws have a significant and harmful impact on people’s health and safety,” wrote Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. He said Cummins’ engines caused excess emissions of nitrogen oxides, which can cause asthma and respiratory infections.
The company agreed to pay the $1.675 billion fine to the U.S. and the State of California to settle the claims, according to the Department of Justice. The penalty is the second largest environmental penalty in the history of the nation, according to the Department of Justice.
The company does not admit wrongdoing and says no one in the company acted in bad faith, said Jon Mills, a spokesperson for Cummins Inc. in an email to USA TODAY.
“The company has cooperated fully with the relevant regulators, already addressed many of the issues involved, and looks forward to obtaining certainty as it concludes this lengthy matter,” reads a news release from the…
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