EPA Suing Three Mississippi Companies Over Clean Air Act

The EPA has filed a lawsuit alleging that three Mississippi companies sold 78,000 engines that violate the emission standards in the Clean Air Act. Many of the engines are the kind used in portable gas generators, which people statewide relied on after Hurricane Katrina.

The Environmental Protection Agency has targeted three north Mississippi companies in a lawsuit enforcing the Clean Air Act. MPB’s Cari Gervin has the story.

Last week the EPA sued PowerTrain, Wood Sales Company, and Tool Mart, which are all in Golden. The government alleges they imported and sold 78,000 engines made in China that don’t meet federal air pollution standards.

This is the first time the EPA has sued to enforce emission standards on small non-road engines. According to the court filings, the engines in question were used for generators, water pumps and equipment like garden tillers.

Oneal Wood is the president of all three corporations. He says the lawsuit came as a complete shock.

“I know the EPA visited us several years ago. Mr..Forester was a really nice guy, and he went over it and he said if we were doing anything wrong, he would give us a call back. And that’s been several years ago, and we never heard anything from him.”

Wood says all the engines he has sold were certified by the EPA, which did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

The lawsuit alleges that engines have emitted more than 5,000 tons of carbon monoxide. Dennis Truax is a environmental engineering professor at Mississippi State. He says that’s a lot of air pollution from such small engines.

“I’m kind of wondering where the numbers are coming from, because we’re talking about, again, stand-by power generation. They’re the type of device that just – I wouldn’t expect to have a lot of output – not because they’re not polluting, but simply because they’re not used that frequently.”

State officials said consumers who may have bought the engines in question cannot be charged with violating emission standards.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin.