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The latest news from around North Texas.
Last September it was revealed the Volkswagen auto group intentionally installed software to deceive U.S. emissions testing. That included approximately a half million diesel vehicles in the country.
Dallas County is now taking action by taking VW and several other automakers to court for that deception and the damage done to the environment.
VW has admitted using software that only reduced emissions on their diesel vehicles when the computer could tell it was being tested. In other words, diesel engines were spewing illegal levels of nitrous oxide and other pollutants into the air, the lawsuit filed this week says.
Dallas County is suing Volkswagen, Bosch, which it alleges designed the software, Porsche and Audi.
The lawsuit alleges the companies violated Texas Health and Safety Code, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules, the Texas Water Code and the Texas Clean Air Act in Dallas County.
Specifically the lawsuit alleges that at least 3,000 such manipulated vehicles were on Dallas County roads, starting with model year 2009 and running until Aug. 31, 2015. The EPA revealed the problem in mid-September.
The vehicle owners are not the target, but rather the manufacturers which have responsibility under state law.
There are several federal lawsuits that have been filedin the wake of these revelations. Those lawsuits seek billions in damages.
Dallas County says it's suit seeks more than $1 million. Violation of these codes carry fines of $50 to $5,000 per day per violation, according to the lawsuit. That means if a vehicle was on the road from Jan. 1, 2009 through Aug. 31, 2015, the county may seek as much as $12,165,000.
