In a statement issued by the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said, “In this case, our preliminary estimates suggest that defeat devices on some Cummins engines have caused them to produce thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides,” adding that, over time, these can cause respiratory issues and infections.
Putting the magnitude of this scandal in perspective, the only time a company was fined more for damaging the environment was after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill contaminated the Gulf of Mexico with 3.19 million barrels of the stuff.
That said, the feds are not only focused on the big offenders but have also begun clamping down on smaller merchants selling defeat devices via platforms like eBay, which is why outfits like Flyin’ Miata no longer offer the comprehensive range of upgrades they once did.