North Dakota trucking company faces $2 million in fines in 2018 illegal dumping

BISMARCK — A North Dakota trucking company may face $2 million in fines for failing to clean up the damage from a 2018 illegal dumping incident, according to a complaint filed in May by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality.

Case documents indicate that on June 10, 2018, a landowner in Dunn County reported that a driver for SBT Inc., a small trucking outfit based in Utah but operating in North Dakota, had drained oil waste onto his property. Authorities were quick to respond to the scene and arrest the driver. The following day, a team of inspectors, including a representative from the Department of Environmental Quality, SBT officials and the landowner surveyed the site and determined that the driver had deposited approximately 100 barrels of salt water into the ground.

SBT was at first proactive in addressing its driver’s mess, rushing to the scene to assess the damage within hours, but the Department of Environmental Quality said communication with SBT broke down over the last year as the company seemed to back away from its cleanup responsibilities.

“Initially, the company was responsive in beginning remediation at the site. At some point their enthusiasm for the remediation seemed to wane,” said Karl Rockeman, the director of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Quality, noting that cleanup at the spill site has stalled over the past six to nine months.

Read more: https://www.inforum.com/business/energy-and-mining/6557474-ND-trucking-company-faces-2-million-in-fines-in-2018-illegal-dumping