The Manitowoc Company is settling an agreement with the US EPA and Department of Justice for violations of the Clean Air Act’s mobile source emission standards.
A statement from the EPA says the settlement agreement also includes Manitowoc Crane Group Germany and Grove U.S. L.L.C.
It requires the Manitowoc Company to pay a civil penalty of $42.6 million, which will resolve allegations that the company imported and sold heavy nonroad cranes with diesel engines that were not certified to meet the standards of the Clean Air Act.
The EPA says the non-certified cranes “resulted in the release of excess carcinogenic diesel exhaust containing nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
EPA Administrator David Uhlmann says, “Diesel exhaust is one of the dirtiest forms of air pollution and is linked to serious health conditions, including asthma and respiratory illness.”
As part of the agreement, Manitowoc Company will undertake a project to mitigate harm from the alleged unlawful emissions by retrofitting a short-line locomotive currently in service in the Sparrows Point, Maryland, area.
The complaint alleges that between 2014 and 2018, Manitowoc Company imported or introduced into U.S. commerce and sold nonroad cranes with at least 1,032 diesel engines that were not covered by EPA-issued certificates of conformity.
The Manitowoc Company also failed to comply with Clean Air Act labeling, bonding, and reporting requirements.
