Editorial: Curiouser and Curiouser
If one is to believe EPA, through the letter sent to us by Eric V. Schaeffer, director of the agency’s office of regulatory enforcement, officials from several manufacturers — including Volvo Truck Corp., Cummins Engine Co., Detroit Diesel Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. — are lying when they say their companies warned EPA years ago that its emissions tests missed the real target.
Several of those officials said they even told EPA how the manufacturers were able to program electronic controls so the engines would pollute less at low speeds — and pass the test — while at highway speed they spewed illegal levels of nitrogen oxides.
Mr. Schaeffer acknowledges that the agency did receive some information in 1994 relative to its test, but says officials were unable to obtain enough evidence to proceed with a full investigation.
The six largest makers of truck diesel engines in the U.S. agreed to individual settlements with EPA that probably will cost them a total of $1 billion in fines, retrofits and recalls — even though four of them now say they had given EPA advance warning of their activities.
EPA’s move against the manufacturers was announced with great fanfare at a news conference in October featuring EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner and Attorney General Janet Reno.
Thus far, the engine makers’ claims have been greeted with far less attention, outside of these pages. Several company officials say they settled the claims with EPA because it was the expedient thing to do, not because they hadn’t warned the agency about the faulty tests.
This dispute is an important one, at least in part because it pits the credibility of several large manufacturers against that of the federal agency charged with protecting the nation’s environment.
Clearly, Congress needs to step in and investigate these claims and counterclaims before all this gets swept under the rug.
