Mike Braun-affiliated distributing company reaches settlement in Clean Air Act federal lawsuit

INDIANAPOLIS — A company affiliated with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit over accusations the company sold automobile devices that violated the Clean Air Act.

Meyer Distributing has been ordered to pay $7.4 million in civil penalties after reaching an agreement with the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency on Jan. 6. Under the terms of the agreement, the company must also participate in a project intended to “reduce the harm from excess pollution caused by the defeat devices it sold,” according to the EPA.

Meyer Distributing will spend around $1.2 million on the project, with the goal being to replace a 1976 tugboat to service ships across the Gulf Coast region.

The lawsuit focused on a string of violations ranging between Jan. 1, 2018, and Sept. 16, 2020, when Meyer Distributing reportedly sold nearly 100,000 aftermarket defeat devices across the United States to car, truck and engine manufacturers. The EPA argued that these devices, when they were installed onto vehicles and engines, reportedly removed defeat emission controls.

Braun started Meyer Distributing in the mid-1980s before it went on to become one of the largest wholesale distributors of automotive parts and supplies. Originally headquartered in Jasper, the company went on to operate warehousing facilities throughout the country.

The EPA contended that a vehicle’s emissions increase dramatically whenever its emission controls are removed. These emissions have been linked to asthma, chronic bronchitis and other health and environmental concerns.

Now that a settlement has been reached, the EPA said this would help prevent the “release of 1,517 tons of nitrogen oxide, 11 tons of particulate matter, 81 tons of nonmethane hydrocarbons, and 538 tons of carbon monoxide on an annual basis.”