U.S. files complaint over ship engines
The United States filed a civil complaint Thursday against Coltec Industries Inc., a subsidiary of EnPro Industries Inc., and the National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO), a General Dynamics Corp. subsidiary.
The complaint was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under the Clean Air Act and the marine diesel engine rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department and EPA said.
The complaint alleges Coltec's Fairbanks Morse Engine Division (FME) violated the Clean Air Act by manufacturing and selling 32 marine engines that were not covered by an EPA-issued certificate of conformity, and that NASSCO violated the act by installing those engines in ships it built and sold in the United States.
The complaint further alleges that the 32 uncertified FME engines, plus eight more FME sold to NASSCO, had missing or defective emissions-compliance labels required by EPA's rules.
The complaint further alleges that NASSCO also violated the act by manufacturing and selling ships containing several additional engines lacking EPA-issued certificates of conformity, including four propulsion engines manufactured by MAN B&W Diesel A.G., a German company, and installed in an oil tanker, the BP Alaskan Adventurer, and two emergency generator engines installed in other ships that NASSCO sold in the United States.
The Clean Air Act prohibits marine diesel engines from being manufactured or sold in the United States unless covered by a “certificate of conformity” indicating that the engine meets applicable emission standards.
A NASSCO spokesman said, “given that this is a matter under litigation, it would not be appropriate for us to comment on the suit.”