Friday, January 31, 2020

CA levies clean air forfeitures against Kohler

Did you see the penalties slapped on the Wisconsin company?
Kohler to Pay $20M Penalty for California Engine Emissions
Kohler Co. has agreed to pay a $20 million civil penalty to resolve allegations that emissions from its small spark-ignition engines violated the Clean Air Act and California law...  
In a separate agreement resolving California-only claims, Kohler will pay an additional $200,000 civil penalty and fund a program that will supply $1.8 million worth of solar-battery generators to low-income residents of California who live in areas where power is shut off to lessen wildfire risk.
This reminds me of something else I'd read recently about the company, information, adverse environmental impacts
Land inside Kohler Andrae State Park the company is seeking to complete a privately-owned planned golf course facility.

and data supplied to the government: 
State judge rejects DNR approval of environmental permit for luxurious Kohler golf course
[But] Administrative Law Judge Mark F. Kaiser said the agency failed to follow state requirements for projects involving wetlands loss, and that the steps taken by Kohler to assuage the losses were inadequate.
The judge also found that in some cases the DNR lacked adequate information involving hydrology and pesticides to grant the permit on the 247-acre parcel. 






2 comments:

Bill Sell said...

This is very good news.

Maynard McKillen said...

As a corporate "citizen" or "person," Kohler is proving itself profoundly self-absorbed, entitled even.

It is long past the time for corporations to be reined in, to return them to their status as temporary/limited lifetime entities, capable of being quickly dissolved by state legislatures when they no longer demonstrate a public benefit that far outweighs the negative social, economic and environmental consequences of their existence.