This week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) slapped two large trucking companies with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fines for operating without diesel particulate filters.
On Thursday, November 1, the EPA announced that Schneider National, Inc. and Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will be required to pay a combined total of $225,000 in penalties for emissions violations. Additionally, the companies will be forced to spend $575,000 on air filtration systems for schools in the Los Angeles area.
The EPA says that from 2013 through 2016, Schneider operated 150 trucks in the state of California without diesel particulate filters (DPF). The EPA accuses Schneider of failing to verify that 1,200 of its carriers were in compliance with emissions regulations.
Similarly, the EPA says that Old Dominion Freight Line operated 117 trucks without DPF within the state of California from 2013 — 2016. Old Dominion also failed to verify that 76 carriers were in compliance with California emissions requirements, according to authorities.
Two schools located near freeways in Los Angeles, the Eastman Avenue Elementary School and the Eastman Avenue Early Education Center, will be outfitted with new air filtration systems at the expense of Schneider and Old Dominion. These air filtration systems are designed to “reduce exposure to ultrafine particulate matter and black carbon emitted from trucks operating on nearby highways,” according to a news release from the EPA.
EPA Administrator Mike Stoker says,”Heavy-duty trucks can emit drastically higher levels of pollution when not equipped with required emissions controls. Transport companies must comply with California’s rule to improve air quality and protect adjacent schools and communities from breathing these toxic pollutants.”
