David Sparks, known for his work on the Diesel Brothers television series and personal YouTube channel, has been arrested and placed into the Salt Lake County Jail. The charge looks to be failure to pay fines pertaining to the removal of diesel emission control devices. Based on the memorandum decision, it’s effectively contempt of court.
Back in 2016, David “Heavy D” Sparks and Joshua “Redbeard” Stuart were sued by the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE) as part of a larger lawsuit accusing numerous businesses of violating the Clean Air Act.
Four years later, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby of Salt Lake City ruled that the duo were liable to pay $928,600 in legal and court fees to the UPHE. This came after a penalty of $848,000 over assumed environmental violations related to removing emission control devices from diesel vehicles to improve power. Coal rolling was also popular at the time and the entertainment produced by the Diesel Brothers often relied on smoking exhausts to drive traffic.
The Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment is an environmental advocacy group composed of medical professionals. It’s singularly concerned with driving government policy toward environmentalism and recommending what products individuals should or should not purchase. They’ve come out against burning wood, prevented oil refineries from being built, and have suggested home air purifiers are superior to houseplants. The group has also been concerned with diesel emissions and clearly focused on making an example of the Diesel Brothers team.
“As physicians we see the broad range of health consequences from air pollution–sudden death, heart attacks, strokes, lung disease, cancer, and birth defects,” stated UPHE President Dr. Brian Moench.
“Diesel exhaust is one of the most toxic types of pollution there is. It is, in fact, dangerous and deadly. This company’s removal and deactivation of vehicle pollution control equipment represents a callous disregard for the harm they are doing to the entire community. It is also deeply offensive to all the law abiding vehicle owners who make a good faith effort to abide by our pollution laws.”
After buying and having one of the relevant vehicles tested (via Sparks Motors), the UPHE effectively convinced the courts that the production crew had created a 10-to-30 fold increase in “emissions of health-damaging particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen from each vehicle” modified by removing emission devices. It also alleged that this was a clear violation of the Clean Air Act.
According to local outlet KSLTV , the Diesel Brothers’ lawyer called the requested fines “egregious and frivolous.” But they stuck.
Court documents from earlier this month now show defendants, including Sparks, Joshua Smart, Diesel Power Gear LLC and B&W Auto LLC, have been found “jointly and severally liable” to pay $843,602.
The legal case has been a mess, often having federal and local courts contradict each other during appeals. Modifying vehicles in a way that circumvents emissions devices likewise exists in a legally gray area that’s highly dependent upon regional laws, vehicle status, and the individual judge’s stance on the legality of pollution. Arguments have been also made that this is a right-to-repair issue or that aftermarket modifications aren’t something the government should concern itself with.
However, the relevant Utah courts are convinced that the Clean Air Act has been violated repeatedly by the production team — requiring fines be paid as recompense. One of those laws that’s acceptable, so long as the accused can pay the exorbitant fees.
Further complicating the issue is the fact that Mr. Sparks has only gotten more popular and involved in the industry since the original suit was launched. His online presence has grown immensely since 2016 and he’s even partnered with manufacturers ( notably Ram) to build specialty vehicles for events. He’s also about as big as it gets in the aftermarket truck or off-roading world and it’s not clear if he refused to pay the fines on principle or because he cannot afford to. However, the former scenario seems most likely.
Meanwhile, the diesel truck community has broadly come out against modern emission systems being installed by manufacturers. Designed to comply with ever-tightening emission rules, many have argued that emission-control devices sap power from vehicles and create unnecessary maintenance headaches. Aftertreatment Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) is especially criticized by diesel fans for needing special attention and crippling vehicles whenever it acts up. But the overarching concern is that generalized emissions compliance are undermining what are supposed to be long-lived (albeit expensive) engines yielding excellent fuel economy that just so happen to put more particulate matter into the air.
Likewise interesting is the fact that the current EPA seems to be acknowledging this and has vowed to abandon certain restrictions pertaining to select emission control devices. It is simultaneously proposing to roll back aspects of the Clean Air Act ( primarily provisions introduced during the Obama administration) it claims are harming the transportation industry or effectively forcing the sale of specific types of vehicles on a given timeline.
[Images: HeavyDSparks/YouTube; Sparks Motors]
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