Dallas plans to sue Volkswagen over emissions

FOX 4 has learned that the City of Dallas is planning to sue Volkswagen over its phony clean emissions claims.

During a closed session on Wednesday, the city directed its attorney to move forward with suing Volkswagen, according to sources.

The claim will likely be similar to the one in Harris County. That county is suing the company for violating Texas environmental laws.

Volkswagen is under fire for deceiving car buyers by fitting 11 million cars with devices that cheat on emissions tests.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last month that the company had installed software to hide that its diesel engines exceeded pollution standards.

The software switched off emissions controls when cars were on the road to improve performance.

The cars then generated pollution as much as 40 times the limit.

It’s unclear how many of the cars are on the road in Dallas, but the EPA estimates that nearly 500,000 of the cars were sold in the U.S.

FOX 4 spoke with city council member Phillip Kingston before the city's closed session discussion.

“The conduct of Volkswagen is really reprehensible,” said Kingston. “This is crazy. This involves technical people and execs. To keep a conspiracy quiet for so long is really amazing. "

FOX 4 is told that Wednesday’s meeting to discuss if Dallas should sue was the city attorney's own initiative.

Kingston did not discuss how much the city should be seeking.

Harris County, the first government agency to sue Volkswagen, is seeking $100 million in damages for the excess pollution for the cars.

Volkswagen is facing a criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.

FOX 4 reached out to a spokesperson Wednesday afternoon for a comment. He said that the company "cannot comment on pending or active litigation."