Alberta-based Red Deer Exhaust Inc., doing business as Flo~Pro Performance Exhaust and now-shuttered Arkansas distributor Thunder Diesel & Performance Company will pay a $1.6 million USD penalty, to resolve allegations that they violated the Clean Air Act (CAA).   

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that prior to its 2018 investigation, Flo~Pro manufactured or sold more than 100,000 what it calls “aftermarket defeat devices” in the United States per year.

In early 2019, Flo~Pro suspended sales of the defeat devices in the United States in an effort to resolve this matter.

“The exhaust from diesel pickup trucks equipped to operate without essential emissions controls causes severe harm to our nation’s air quality,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. 

“This action will stop the manufacture and sale of these illegal products, preventing additional excess pollution caused by aftermarket defeat devices and keeping the air we breathe clean.”

“Defeat devices violate Clean Air Act emissions requirements meant to protect public health and the environment, as well as vulnerable communities that are disproportionately impacted by air pollution,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). 

“This settlement ensures that Flo~Pro will stop the sale of all defeat devices in the U.S. and is the latest reminder that the Department of Justice will hold the aftermarket automotive parts industry accountable for violations of federal anti-pollution laws.”

Under the agreement, Flo~Pro has agreed to stop manufacturing and selling parts for diesel pickup trucks in the United States, that bypass, defeat, or render inoperative EPA-approved emission controls and harm air quality.

As noted, Thunder Diesel, a distributor based in Mountain Home, Arkansas, has shut down its operations and is no longer selling auto parts.

However, the companies will still pay a $1.6 million USD penalty, which is a reduced amount due to verified financial information indicating the companies’ limited ability to pay. The companies will notify customers who purchased subject parts that the products violate the CAA, will no longer provide technical support or honour warranty claims for the products, and will provide CAA compliance training for employees.

The ruling is not the first of its kind in the U.S. where the U.S. EPA has ramped up enforcement.

As recently as June of this year a judgement against the owner of Spartan Diesel Technologies Matthew Geourge will not only see his company fined a reported $2 million USD, he has also been sentenced to a year in jail and $1.2 million in fines and payments to the IRS. The company sold an estimated 14,000 tuners.

Three of his associates have also reportedly been issued six months of home confinement and probation, in addition to community service and other financial penalties.