A trucking firm owner from Fairview was given a three-year probationary sentence on Tuesday for turning off pollution controls on at least 13 of his diesel semi-trailer trucks.
Additionally, Timothy Curtis Clancy, 55, of Sherwood, the owner of Clancy Logistics Inc., was ordered by U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson to pay a $101,510 fine.
Clancy entered a guilty plea to the felony of tampering with a monitoring device in September.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Ho, he violated the Clean Air Act, which caps the amount of pollution diesel trucks can emit, by tampering with the trucks’ emissions control equipment between 2019 and 2023, increasing the release of lead, mercury, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants.
As part of Clancy’s probationary sentence, the prosecutor recommended eight months of home confinement; however, Clancy’s defense attorney, Steven Ungar, successfully argued against that restriction.
The EPA received complaints regarding Clancy Logistics, which led to the development of the lawsuit.
According to Ho’s sentencing statement, an inquiry revealed that Clancy had located programmers in Canada who could remotely disassemble the trucks’ emissions controls or transfer the emissions control monitors to Canada for such tuning. Clancy sent text messages explaining his desire to reduce diesel exhaust fluid use and improve his truck’s fuel efficiency, and he contacted other programmers in Oregon and Washington to complete the work locally, according to Ho.
Investigators also spoke with firm workers, who explained how removing the emission control devices produced massive dust clouds that enveloped their bodies, filled the store, and made breathing difficult, according to Ho.
Clancy’s attorney, Ungar, contended that his client removed the trucks’ emission controls to maintain his business’s viability and operations rather than to make money.
According to Ungar, the average annual cost savings per vehicle was at least $2,114. According to Ungar, Clancy maintained 70 jobs at his family business during the pandemic.
Clancy is unlikely to commit crimes in the future, according to Ungar, who concluded that home detention was unnecessary. He is also required to ensure that his shop complies with the conditions of the plea deal. For any tampered trucks that have been restored with emissions control systems, the business must stop using them and get the proper certification from a mechanic or dealership.
According to Ungar’s letter to the court, Mr. Clancy is well aware that this conviction serves as his last warning and that any additional criminal activity of any kind will have much more dire repercussions down the road.
Ungar expressed his gratitude to the prosecutor and the EPA attorney for acknowledging the appropriateness of a non-prison punishment.
The owner of a diesel vehicle maintenance company in Hillsboro was given a six-month prison sentence in 2023 for turning off pollution controls on more than 200 customers’ cars and trucks.
— Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. You can contact her via [email protected], 503-221-8212, X@maxoregonian, or LinkedIn.
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