Manitowoc Company Inc. in Manitowoc, seen August 8, 2016. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — The Manitowoc Company Inc. and two of its subsidiaries will pay a $42.6 million civil penalty for violations of the Clean Air Act’s mobile source emission standards regulations.
The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement agreement last week Thursday with Manitowoc Company Inc. and two of its subsidiaries, Grove U.S. L.L.C., and Manitowoc Crane Group Germany GMBH (collectively, Manitowoc) resolving allegations that the company imported and sold heavy nonroad cranes with diesel engines that were not certified to meet applicable Clean Air Act emission standards, and violated related Clean Air Act regulatory requirements which resulted in the release of excess carcinogenic diesel exhaust containing nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter.
The complaint alleges that, between 2014 and 2018, Manitowoc imported or introduced into U.S. commerce and sold nonroad cranes with at least 1,032 diesel engines that were not covered by EPA-issued certificates of conformity. Many of the engines also did not qualify for a limited exemption. Manitowoc also failed to comply with Clean Air Act labeling, bonding and reporting requirements.
As part of the settlement, Manitowoc will retrofit a short-line locomotive engine to improve air quality along a 70-mile pathway in the Sparrows Point area of Maryland, where Manitowoc had imported cranes with the illegal engines. The pathway of the 70 miles of track includes areas with underserved and overburdened communities. Reducing NOx and particulate matter emissions around the track will improve surrounding air quality.
Retrofitting of the locomotive includes removing, destroying and replacing the locomotive’s old engine, which was manufactured before locomotive emission standards were in place, with a new engine equipped with present-day emission controls.
The proposed consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.
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