New Volkswagen Pollution Settlement Adds $1Bln to October Agreement - US Agency

A settlement covering 83,000 pollution-spewing cars sold by Volkswagen in the United States will add an additional $1 billion to a separate $15 billion penalty against the car maker that was announced in October, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles told reporters in a conference call.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Giles explained that the $1 billion includes $225 million that will be added to a $2.7 billion mitigation fund that was part of the October settlement, to help offset damage from excess emissions of nitrogen oxides.

"We estimate that the cost of the 3-liter settlement that was lodged today was about $1 billion," Giles said on Tuesday.

The settlement for cars with 3-liter engines that was disclosed on Tuesday follows the earlier agreement, which covered about 475,000 2-liter cars.

The cars were rigged with software to cut emissions to legal levels during pollution tests, while releasing pollutants up to nine-times higher than legal limits under normal driving conditions.

The settlements announced so far cover civil penalties sought by the US Department of Justice, the state of California and the US Environmental Protection Agency, Giles noted.

Volkswagen still faces possible criminal fines and a number of class-action lawsuits from car owners, which could result in additional penalties.