The Aspen Skiing Co. is taking a look under the hood to see if any of the vehicles in its fleet are violating the Clean Air Act. Aspen Public Radio’s Carolyn Sackariason reports.
SkiCo has at least a dozen Audi vehicles in its fleet. The Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month sent a notice of violation to the car company, which is under investigation for allegedly having the so-called “defeat devices” in some of its vehicles.
The device was designed to bypass emission standards. The investigation began with Volkswagen and the company has admitted it installed the devices in certain models. Porche is also under investigation.
The EPA’s Nov. 2 notice says there are five 2016 Audi models that are equipped with the defeat device. But there may be more in older vehicles. Auden Schendler is vice president of sustainability for SkiCo.
“It definitely concerns us but in terms of Volkswagen or Audi we don’t know, investigators don’t know what went on at the companies so it’s really premature to say how that affects our relationship. The way we are moving here is to work with them to fix this problem,” he says.
SkiCo executives are talking with Audi to determine if any of its Q5 and Q7 SUVs have the defeat device. SkiCo also has the A7 model in its fleet. Carolyn Sackariason, Aspen Public Radio news.