Clean Water Act · 2015 Public record Dan River coal-ash spill
Duke Energy · North Carolina
$102 million
settlement · log scale, $16.5M to $14.7B
A pipe under a coal-ash pond let go into a drinking-water river.
Duke Energy subsidiaries pleaded guilty to nine Clean Water Act violations across North Carolina plants and paid $102 million in fines, restitution, and community service after the 2014 Dan River release.
Source: U.S. DOJ, 2015
Clean Air Act · 2016 Public record Volkswagen diesel fleet
Volkswagen AG · Nationwide (imported vehicles)
$14.7 billion
settlement · log scale, $16.5M to $14.7B
Defeat devices that cheated emissions tests on ~580,000 U.S. diesels.
The October 2016 partial settlement totaled about $14.7 billion, including a $2.7 billion environmental mitigation trust and $2 billion for zero-emission-vehicle investment. A separate 2017 resolution added a $1.45 billion Clean Air Act and customs civil penalty on top of criminal fines.
Source: U.S. DOJ / EPA / CARB consent decrees, 2016-2017