Serious Violations

If any doubts remained, the Environmental Protection Agency clearly showed last week that it means business. In the largest fine ever levied on behalf of an antipollution measure, EPA won a judgment in U.S. district court against Ford Motor Co. for $3,500,000, plus other counts settled out of court for an additional $3,500,000.

Ford employees, EPA asserted, had deliberately tampered with 1973 model cars in order to make them seem less polluting than they actually were. In so doing, Ford violated federal clean-air laws. The court found Ford guilty of 350 criminal counts, at the maximum fine of $10,000 for each. Ford did not contest the charges. In fact, the company itself had first reported the tampering to authorities and transferred the four responsible employees out of its testing department. Ford also made a strong pitch for suspension of federal emission standards for 1975 and 1976. President Lee A. lacocca told the New York Chamber of Commerce that the industry "has been backed to the cliff edge of desperation," and that if the suspension is not granted, "a complete shutdown of the U.S. auto industry" could result.

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