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Montana Trucking Company Owner Indicted on Multiple Charges Related to Illegal Transportation of Hazardous Materials
On November 16, 2017, Woody’s Trucking LLC and its owner, Donald Wood Jr., were indicted in U.S. District Court, Billings, MT, for violations related to the illegal transportation of hazardous materials, obstruction, and insurance fraud.
On December 29, 2012, a driver for Woody’s Trucking, located in Baker, MT, loaded natural gas condensate, or “drip gas,” from a pipeline station that transports products from the North Dakota Bakken oil fields. The drip gas was hauled from Watford City, ND, to Custom Carbon Processing, Inc. (CCP), a slop-oil processing/recycling company near Wibaux, MT. The bill of lading that accompanied the shipment identified the product as “slop oil and water,” which is a nonhazardous substance. However, while the driver was pumping the front tank of the truck into the CCP facility, a fire ignited, injuring three employees. The tanks on the truck burned for 8 days until the local fire department could determine that they held drip gas and not slop oil and water, as indicated on the bill of lading. Drip gas is a hazardous material, and the truck was not placarded to indicate it held a flammable liquid. The fraudulent bill of lading was later submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Great West Casualty Company to conceal the contents of the shipment.
DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division.