The Utah manufacturer of a product that disabled diesel pickup trucks' emission controls will pay a $500,000 fine to settle claims that it violated the Clean Air Act.

The device made by Ogden-based Edge Products LLC allowed truck owners to remove controls that prevented emissions of excess particulate matter and let trucks spew black smoke, the Obama administration said.

The company sold more than 9,000 of the devices, leading to an estimated 158 tons of particulate matter emissions, according to the Justice Department. Edge stopped selling the product in mid-2011.

As part of today's settlement, Edge will offer to buy back the product and spend $157,600 on an emission-mitigation project.

Jared Blumenfeld, U.S. EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, said in a statement that "allowing black smoke to billow conspicuously from the tailpipes of diesel pickup trucks is a practice that directly harms public health."