Aug 14, 2008 10:46 AM

Clougherty Packing/Farmer John of Los Angeles has been fined $63,300 in air pollution penalties by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for failure to comply with diesel truck emission requirements.

CARB said the Hormel Foods subsidiary neglected to file a one-time report for its Vernon CA distribution facility, violating the transport refrigeration unit facilities regulation, and failed to inspect its diesel truck fleet for excess emissions in 2006 and 2007.

Annual diesel trucks inspections are required by CARB.

Its facilities regulation says facilities with 20 or more cold storage loading docks must monitor, keep records, and report activities that create emissions. This includes diesel-powered refrigeration units mounted on trucks, trailers, shipping containers, and railcars, during loading and unloading of perishables goods at distribution centers around the state.