Environmental Protection

Attorney General Schwalb today joined a coalition of 50 attorneys general announcing a $149,673,750 settlement with Mercedes-Benz USA and Mercedes-Benz Group AG (Mercedes) for deceptively marketing, selling, and leasing more than 200,000 diesel vehicles in the United States, including approximately 380 vehicles registered in the District of Columbia, that violated DC and federal emissions standards and resulted in thousands of tons of excess air pollution.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that the Residences at Kenilworth Park, LLC (RKP), the developer and owner of an assisted living apartment complex in Ward 7, will pay $200,000 and permanently protect remaining wetlands on its property to resolve allegations that it violated multiple District environmental laws during construction, including illegally draining neighboring wetlands and discharging pollutants into DC waters.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that DC Trails, a local charter bus company, and its subsidiary DC2NY (which does business as BestBus), will pay $85,000 and program its bus engines to shut off after three minutes of idling as part of a settlement with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to address persistent air pollution violations.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Washington Gas has agreed to contain hazardous pollution actively seeping into the Anacostia River at the former site of the company’s East Station, a gas plant that operated on the banks of the river for nearly 100 years.