THE US District Court in Pennsylvania has charged five men with conspiring to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act by allegedly disabling emissions-control devices on commercial vehicles.
The charges are related to a scheme to defraud the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which enforces emissions standards for air pollutants for diesel vehicles under the Clean Air Act, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which enforces annual inspection standards for commercial motor vehicles.
The five men have been identified as Gavin Rexer, Joseph Powell, John Joseph, Dennis Paulhamus and Timothy Sweitzer.
Mr Rexer, Mr Powell and Mr Joseph worked for Rockwater Northeast LLC. in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Rockwater provided and transported water and wastewater to the hydraulic fracturing industry in the state. Mr Paulhamus owned DJ Paulhamus Trucking and Mr Sweitzer owned Sweitzer?s Garage LLC. Both companies were based in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
According to the indictment, it is alleged that between August 2013 and June 2014 the five individuals conspired to remove the stock exhaust systems of Rockwater commercial vehicles and replace them with straight pipes or hollowed out the emissions exhaust components by removing environmental filters and elements, reported American Shipper.
The co-conspirators also allegedly disabled and manipulated the onboard diagnostics with high-tech 'defeat' devices obtained from Mr Paulhamus and Mr Sweitzer.
According to the US Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, they concealed these purchases in Rockwater's books and records by mislabelling them as 'exhaust systems'.
They then falsely indicated that the illegally modified CMVs had passed vehicle inspections at Sweitzer's Garage, an inspection station certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The charges are related to a scheme to defraud the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which enforces emissions standards for air pollutants for diesel vehicles under the Clean Air Act, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which enforces annual inspection standards for commercial motor vehicles.
The five men have been identified as Gavin Rexer, Joseph Powell, John Joseph, Dennis Paulhamus and Timothy Sweitzer.
Mr Rexer, Mr Powell and Mr Joseph worked for Rockwater Northeast LLC. in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Rockwater provided and transported water and wastewater to the hydraulic fracturing industry in the state. Mr Paulhamus owned DJ Paulhamus Trucking and Mr Sweitzer owned Sweitzer?s Garage LLC. Both companies were based in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
According to the indictment, it is alleged that between August 2013 and June 2014 the five individuals conspired to remove the stock exhaust systems of Rockwater commercial vehicles and replace them with straight pipes or hollowed out the emissions exhaust components by removing environmental filters and elements, reported American Shipper.
The co-conspirators also allegedly disabled and manipulated the onboard diagnostics with high-tech 'defeat' devices obtained from Mr Paulhamus and Mr Sweitzer.
According to the US Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, they concealed these purchases in Rockwater's books and records by mislabelling them as 'exhaust systems'.
They then falsely indicated that the illegally modified CMVs had passed vehicle inspections at Sweitzer's Garage, an inspection station certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.