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Category Archives: litigation
ExxonMobil to Pay Fine for Fracking Wastewater Dumping
The consent decree, lodged in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and almost certain court approval given the DOJ’s laughably lenient treatment of corporate criminals. Continue reading
Posted in alternative fuels, fools 'n frauds, litigation
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, doj, epa, exxon mobile, fracking pollution, Ken Zino, xto energy
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Ford to Pay Record $17.35 Million NHTSA Fine on Recall
This was apparently the second plea bargain by an automaker this year to avoid protracted litigation with NHTSA over a safety defect. Chrysler recently negotiated a deal on Jeep gas tank fires. Neither automaker admitted guilt in the NHTSA deals, an important defense in product liability litigation that always surrounds major recalls. If the document was leaked from the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency, then the agency is in clear violation of SEC regulation FD, for full disclosure, which says in essence that material information should be released to all, not selectively. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, news analysis, recalls
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, ford recall fine, Ken Zino, nhts
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Halliburton to Plead Guilty to Criminal Destruction of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Evidence
Halliburton Energy Services will plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of Justice said today. Halliburton was charged with one count of destruction of evidence according to an information filling today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Continue reading
Posted in environment, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, bp, deepwater horizon, gulf oil spill, halliburton, Ken Zino, Macondo well
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Fuel Company Head Charged in Kickback Scheme
The former owner and operator of two Florida-based airline fuel supply companies appeared today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on charges of a kickback scam and defrauding Illinois-based Ryan International Airlines. Continue reading
Posted in energy, fools 'n frauds, litigation
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, doj, homeland security, Ken Zino, ryan air
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Class Action Suit Filed Against MyFord Touch System
A well-know, or infamous, national law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Ford Motor Company’s MyFord Touch, MyLincoln Touch and MyMercury Touch touchscreen systems are defective. The firm of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro claims that the system often freezes, fails to respond to voice and touch commands and will not connect to mobile phones. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, news analysis
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, cell phones, distracted driving, ford mytouch, infotainment, Ken Zino, telematics
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Oil Recycling Company and Owner Guilty of Toxic Crimes
A North Carolina used oil recycling business and its owner plead guilty to unlawful handling of PCB-contaminated used oil and other crimes today. Benjamin Franklin Pass, 60, and P&W Waste Oil Services Inc. of Wilmington, N.C., pleaded guilty in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act, as well as for making false statements and failing to pay several years of taxes. Continue reading
Posted in environment, fools 'n frauds, litigation, people
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, doj, epa, Ken Zino, oil recycling, pcbs, toxic waste
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Shell Settles Clean Air Act Violations for $115 Million
Shell will spend $1 million on a state-of-the-art system to monitor benzene levels of the refinery and chemical plant near a residential neighborhood and school and to make the data available to the public through a website. Shell’s agreement to recover and recycle waste gases at its chemical plant is a first of its kind. Continue reading
Posted in energy, litigation
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, clean air act, epa, Ken Zino, shell doj
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Supreme Court Dismisses Ethanol Waiver Case
The United States Supreme Court today dismissed a petition by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers or AFPM challenging an EPA regulation that allows for 15% ethanol in gasoline. Continue reading
Jeep Fuel Tank Fire Fix Inadequate Center for Auto Safety Says
The Center for Auto Safety, a consumer pressure group closely aligned with product liability lawyers, says the proposed recall fix for Jeep fuel system fires is inadequate. CAS is calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to crash test the proposed fix that would install trailer hitches on Jeep SUVs that do not already have them. “Chrysler’s announcement means the argument shifts from whether the 1993-98 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2002-07 Liberty’s are unsafe and whether there will be a recall to what the recall remedy will be and how to make the Jeeps safe from rear impact fires,” CAS said in a statement. CAS wants Chrysler to install skid plates under the fuel tanks instead. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, recalls, safety
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, cas, Clarence ditlow, jeep fires, jeep recalls, Ken Zino, nhtsa, pinto fires
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Chrysler Finally Agrees to Fix Jeep Fuel Systems after a Long NHTSA Probe and Formal Recall Request
Chrysler Group will recall 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2002-07 Jeep Liberty vehicles, it announced this afternoon. The reversal follows two years of investigation and a recent disagreement on 4 June between Chrysler and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, when Chrysler refused to recall the vehicles. NHTSA appears to have stared down the Fiat-controlled company in what was a growing public relations disaster. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, news analysis, recalls, safety
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Chrysler recalls, jeep fuel tank recall, Ken Zino, nhtsa
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Automaker Defense of Hands-Free Devices Hooey AAA Says
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is taking on the oft-used automaker defense their profitable selling of hands-free electronic devices that are expanding exponentially in new cars. The latest data show that dangerous mental distractions exist even when drivers “keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.” Continue reading
U.S. Sues ExxonMobil over Pegasus Pipeline Oil Spill
The complaint covers ExxonMobil’s unlawful discharge of heavy crude oil from a 20-inch-diameter interstate pipeline – the Pegasus Pipeline – that ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas on 29 March 2013. Continue reading
Posted in energy, environment, litigation
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, doj, epa, Ken Zino, mayflower spill, pegasus pipeline oil spill
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NHTSA Opens Ford EcoBoost Investigation for Stalling
The turbocharged engine is already subject to two class action suits alleging that the intercooler design is defective. These safety and legal matters are now looking like just the beginnings of potentially prolonged and image-damaging actions about Ford’s claimed fuel economy breakthrough with the downsized EcoBoost engine. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, safety
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, ecoboost, f-150, f-series, Ken Zino, nhtsa
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Another Lawsuit Filed against Ford EcoBoost V6 Engines
The suit mirrors one filed in last February, alleging the same thing, asking for $500,000,000 million in damages. These legal matters are now looking like the beginnings of prolonged and image-damaging lawsuits about Ford’s claimed fuel economy breakthrough with the downsized EcoBoost engine. (Class Action Suit Filed Against F-150 EcoBoost Engines for Stalling) Continue reading
Posted in auto news, litigation, safety
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, ecoboost lawsuits, f-150, Ken Zino
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