CADILLAC REJECTS

General Motors will recall some 470,000 Cadillacs and pay an $11 million fine in what the Justice Department said was the first-ever court-ordered automobile recall. At issue: a computer chip, installed in 1991, that fixed a stalling problem by enriching the fuel when the heater or air conditioner was on. The resulting emissions were three times greater than allowed under the Clean Air Act. In announcing the recalls, Attorney General Janet Reno told a news conference, "It is simply not fair to burden people's health to improve the sales of automobiles." But Detroit bureau chief William McWhirter says that the fine, the second-largest levied on a manufacturer under the Clean Air Act, appears to be for a comparatively minor infraction: "The recalls are aimed at GM's Northstar Engines, which everyone views as the gemstones of GM technology and possibly the best V-8 engines made in the world. They are available only in the priciest Cadillacs. Unlike the controversial gas tanks exploding in truck pickup collisions a few years ago, no deaths, personal injuries or threats to national security seem to be involved, just some emission violations."