written by: Glen Warchol & Susan Lacke
While others choke, Utah’s Diesel Brothers celebrate “coal rollers.”
Beneath the haze of the Wasatch Front’s toxic air, you’ll find one of reality television’s most popular series. Discovery Channel’s “The Diesel Brothers” is about a band of Salt Lakers who modify trucks to produce the maximum of polluting emissions.
The success of “The Diesel Brothers” is both a twisted irony and a statement on American greed’s triumph over social consciousness. The show’s heroes, “Heavy D” (Dave Sparks) and “Diesel Dave” (Dave Kelly), own DieselSellerz in Woods Cross where they celebrate diesel trucks that have been modified into “coal rollers” by disconnecting or negating emission controls. Drivers of these filth-spewing monsters joke that the lung-poisoning soot spewed from their trucks’ exhaust pipes is “Prius repellent.” Bicyclists have reported that coal roller drivers delight in intentionally passing them slowly to envelop them in exhaust smoke.
Not everyone gets the manly humor. Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment filed suit in January 2017 accusing the Diesel Brothers and their cohorts, Joshua “Redbeard” Stuart and Keaton “The Muscle” Hoskins, of violating the U.S. Clean Air Act and the Utah State Implementation Plan by modifying trucks to exceed federal emissions standards by 30 times or more.
The lawsuit maintains the group sells illegally modified trucks and emission control-defeat devices online at DieselSellerz.com, which is headquartered in Woods Cross.
The suit asks the court to order the Diesel Brothers to pay a civil penalty of $37,500 to $93,750 per day for each tampered vehicle they’ve owned, operated or built in Utah. It also asks for another $100,000 to go toward air-quality mitigation projects.
“The Diesel Brothers” lawyer offers a defense of amazing chutzpah: “As is evident from the show, the Diesel Brothers are strong proponents of outdoor recreation. The Diesel Brothers hope for a quick resolution to this matter in a way that can both educate the public and encourage best environmental practices for fellow truck enthusiasts.”
Read more about: Utah’s Air Quality | A Recipe for Inversion | Don’t Fall For This Smokescreen | A Driving Force for The Better | Down with Pizza Ovens
Listen to Salt Lake Speaks’ podcast: The Forecast for Utah’s Future Winters Looks Bleak.
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See more inside our 2018 Jan/Feb Issue.
