Diesel Maker Cummins Fined $2.1 Million For Omitting Exhaust Treatment Systems

Diesel Maker Cummins Fined $2.1 Million For Omitting Exhaust Treatment Systems

By John O'Dell February 22, 2010

Ohio-based diesel engine giant Cummins Inc., has agreed to pay a $2.1 million federal fine for shipping 570,000 heavy duty diesel engines without installing the required "after-treatment" emissions systems that neutralize nitrogen oxides and particulate matter in the exhaust stream.

The company was supposed to have installed the emissions cleaning systems itself before shipping the engines to truck makers and heavy equipment companies but instead relied on its customers to add the systems, the Justice Department alleged in its complaint.

While most customers did install the treatment systems - typically catalytic converters and particulate filters - several hundred vehicles sold with Cummins diesels between 1998 and 2006 were not properly equipped.

Cummins - which did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement filed in federal court today - has agreed to recall 405 engines and install the proper treatment system.

The 8-year lapse and resulting federal complaint apparently didn't hurt Cummins' standing with the Department of Energy, which just last month awarded the engine maker $54 million in federal grants for development of clean diesel engines for trucks and passenger cars.

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.