EPA · ECHO, read editorially Compare

Volkswagen diesel fleet vs Washington Works (PFOA / C8)

Two real, published enforcement settlements, lined up. Every figure below is public record; the head-to-head is computed at build time over those real numbers. Penalty bars share one log scale, so they read across the gutter.

Head to head · real figures only
  • Larger settlement Volkswagen AG $14.7 billion vs $16.5 million
  • More recent case Volkswagen AG 2016 vs 2005
  • Regulatory program differ Clean Air Act vs Toxic Substances (TSCA)
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

Toxic Substances (TSCA) · 2005 Public record

Washington Works (PFOA / C8)
E.I. DuPont de Nemours · West Virginia
$16.5 million
settlement · log scale, $16.5M to $14.7B

The largest civil administrative penalty EPA had ever obtained, at the time.

DuPont settled claims that it withheld health and environmental information about PFOA ("C8") used to make Teflon, paying a $10.25 million penalty plus $6.25 million in supplemental environmental projects.

Source: EPA administrative settlement, 2005

Both cases, in numbers
Field Volkswagen AG E.I. DuPont de Nemours
Program Clean Air Act Toxic Substances (TSCA)
Operator Volkswagen AG E.I. DuPont de Nemours
Location Nationwide (imported vehicles) West Virginia
Year 2016 2005
Settlement / penalty $14.7 billion $16.5 million
Source U.S. DOJ / EPA / CARB consent decrees, 2016-2017 EPA administrative settlement, 2005

⇆ Swap sides · All cases & states

These are landmark settlements, not live ECHO facility records. Day-to-day compliance metrics - quarters in noncompliance, formal-action counts, last inspection - are not part of a settlement figure; they join per facility from the ECHO Exporter (loadFacilities() in src/lib/source.ts). See the Methodology for what is real versus illustrative on this site.