A Central Kentucky business has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve an allegation that it sold devices that disable emissions control systems on diesel vehicles, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Thoroughbred Diesel, a Winchester company, also agreed to stop selling the devices, EPA said in a news release.
The products involved in the case are known as defeat devices. They can be installed after a vehicle is manufactured to bypass systems designed to reduce air pollution from vehicles, according to EPA.
The devices Thoroughbred sold were mostly for light- and medium-duty pickup trucks, said Terry Johnson, a spokesman for the agency.
The business allegedly sold thousands of the devices.
Owners who install the devices often are trying to increase fuel efficiency, power or both, or get around having to buy diesel exhaust fluid used in newer emissions systems, Johnson said.
The use of the devices increases the amount of pollution a vehicle emits.
Defeat devices contribute to harmful air pollution
In a study released in 2020, EPA estimated that known sales of defeat devices for diesel trucks across the U.S. in the prior decade would result in the trucks putting out an extra 570,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, a key air pollutant, over their lifetime.
The study estimated emissions controls had been removed from more than 550,000 pickup trucks.
The EPA has made it a priority to crack down on aftermarket defeat devices.
The agency said that in the four most recent fiscal years, it finalized a total of 172 non-criminal enforcement cases related to the devices, for civil penalties totaling $55 million.
“These illegal practices contribute to harmful air pollution and impede federal, state, and local efforts to implement air quality standards that protect public health,” Jeaneanne Gettle, acting administrator for the EPA region that includes Kentucky, said in a release.
Other companies settle after selling devices
The same day the agency announced the settlement with Thoroughbred, it announced that Full Force Diesel Performance in Murfreesboro, Tenn., had paid $525,438 in civil penalties for selling at least 1,710 defeat devices in two years.
EPA also has a lawsuit pending in New York against eBay for allegedly selling products in violation of environmental rules, including more than 340,000 defeat devices.
The online retailer asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it didn’t sell the products but only provided a platform for the owners to sell them.
eBay works to prevent illegal transactions on its platform, the company said in its motion.
“Regrettably, however, some bad actors still manage to evade detection,” the company said. “Those unlawful actions of others are not grounds for a federal case against eBay.”
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