VW's possible Bay Area connection to the emissions scandal

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) -- Two Bay Area Volkswagen owners are the lead plaintiffs in a Federal Class Action lawsuit alleging that some of the phony results the EPA and California Air Resource Board relied on may have been  made up here in the Bay Area.

Lawyers for the two Bay Area VW owners say that crucial information is in the hands of three companies with Bay Area offices.

"People who have data that will help point the finger, the smoking gun, as to who knew and when they knew may be in the possession of folks right here in the Bay Area," said Frank Pitre, the owners' attorney,

In Belmont, Volkswagen has an advanced Electronics Research Laboratory. It had two local firms test how well vegetation-based diesel fuels work in its diesel cars.

Solaryme of South San Francisco makes alternative diesel fuel from algae. Amyris of Emeryville makes alternative diesel out of sugar cane.

The consumer lawyers allege VW had those test results reviewed by emissions experts at the University of West Virginia.

But just last June, when Volkswagen used those test results to brag about how clean green and well performing its diesels are, VW made no mention of what the University of West Virginia found. 

"When they're looking at the data from those tests, it concludes that the emissions -- the NOX emissions which are at the very heart of this cover up -- were found to exceed EPA standards by a factor of 15 to 35 times what was permitted by the EPA for the Jetta," said Pitre.

If Volkswagen was able to fool the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board as it did, then it's entirely possible that they fool the Bay Area firms as well.

"We are not saying that they were complicit," said Pitre.

South San Francisco's Solazyme eid not get back to us. But Emeryville Amyris says all it did was pour it's fuel into the vehicle provided to it by Volkswagen and keep a mileage log. But it did not have access to the computer VW attached to the car to gather data. 

Amyris says is never saw the data.

Lawsuits notwithstanding, VW is already exploring what relief or compensation it can provide owners to win back confidence. Consumer advocates say on a buyback will do.