D.A. Sues Bell Cab Over Alleged Smog Violations : Environment: Officials are trying to get 50 vehicles off the road. They charge firm used bogus certificates and tampered with emissions equipment.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office Monday filed a civil lawsuit against Bell Cab Co. to push up to half its cabs off the road, targeting for the first time firms and individuals who purchase fraudulent smog certificates rather than those who sell them.

The estimated 50 Bell taxis the city wants scrapped or fixed are so-called gross-polluting vehicles, among the 10% of California cars that cause up to 60% of the state’s smog. Many of Bell’s taxis have been documented spewing more than 10 times the allowable level of pollutants into the air; others have emission systems that have been disconnected or stripped out, according to court documents.

“In all my years of experience, I have never seen a fleet of cars as butchered up and as obviously in violation of the laws as these vehicles were,” Gerald G. Gean, of the state Bureau of Automotive Repair, said in court documents.

Monday’s action signifies a change in the way authorities are attempting to rein in the area’s tough urban pollution problem. In December, a law enforcement sting focused on more than two dozen Smog Check stations, resulting in 55 arrests of mechanics or station owners who issued fraudulent certificates. On Monday, the focus was on the consumer for the first time.

“You can go after the businesses that issue the smog control certificates,” Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said at a news conference. “But if you really want to go after (pollution) you have to seek out the businesses that buy the certificates.”

“As far as I know we are in full compliance to all the rules and regulations and that includes the smog test,” said Vadim Berenson, Bell’s president. “We have no control over the places that do smog tests. We drop off the car and they give you a bill and they give you a certificate. When we became aware there might be a problem, we smog tested voluntarily more than half of our company, spending more than $17,000.”

While the district attorney’s office was investigating fraud among Smog Check operators last year, investigators said they obtained evidence that several Bell Cabs may have received bogus smog certificates.

In October, they set up a remote sensing device at Los Angeles International Airport. Through remote sensing, an infrared beam is pointed across a street and measures the levels of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emitted by the tailpipes of passing cars. It was the first time such technology has been used in law enforcement, Garcetti said.

Hydrocarbons are a prime ingredient in the formation of ozone, the invisible, lung-irritating gas that is the main component of smog. Carbon monoxide, another component of smog, aggravates heart and lung disease.

Of the 27 Bell Cabs tested, at least 18 were gross-polluting vehicles, said Joseph P. Charney, an assistant district attorney involved in the investigation. During the Dec. 17 sweep of Smog Check station operators, investigators also were issued a search warrant that allowed them to smog test taxis belonging to Bell, which is the fifth-largest cab company in Los Angeles, where it operates 93 cabs.

All 23 vehicles tested failed and in each case the emission control systems had been tampered with in some fashion, court documents said. In one cab, two-thirds of the devices had been modified or disconnected and the vehicle was spewing more than 20 times the allowable level of hydrocarbons into the air.

A subsequent visit by authorities in March showed many of the same vehicles had not been repaired and revealed that others had been tampered with. “There’s good reason to believe that over half of the (Bell) cabs are out of compliance,” said Charney, adding that authorities are investigating other fleets of vehicles in Los Angeles County for similar violations.

At a June 4 hearing, prosecutors will ask that Bell be fined an estimated $250,000 and that all of the company’s vehicles that have been tampered with or have been issued phony smog certificates be kicked off the road until they are shown to comply with the law.

“The district attorney’s office believes the (Smog Check) system isn’t working because of tampered-with cars,” Charney said. “Consequently, they’ll completely overwhelm the benefits we’ve gotten from the people who comply.”