A Clear Day … Thank the EPA

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Feb 21, 2000 | by John Elvin

A particular band of Washington-based bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency socked it to environmental criminals last year, resulting in $166.7 million in penalties and 208 years in federal-prison sentences for those captured. These were no wrist-slapper sentences, either. One fellow got 13 years in the slam for dumping a serious amount of contaminated wastewater and hazardous wastes.

The EPA particularly was delighted with the outcome of the largest enforcement action in the history of the Clean Air Act. Eight manufacturers of diesel engines were hit with $83 million in total penalties and will have to spend $800 million to rejigger their devices so as not to produce so much nitrogen oxide, which is said to contribute to smog.