ABF Freight System Inc. Clean Water Act Noncompliance, Arkansas 2024

FORT SMITH – ABF Freight System Inc., a freight carrier with over 200 transportation facilities in 47 states and Puerto Rico, has been accused of violating the Clean Water Act by failing to comply with stormwater regulations at multiple locations. According to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas, ABF Freight System Inc. failed to clean up spills, implement spill prevention measures, and conduct required monitoring of stormwater discharges at nine of its facilities.

“Water quality affects every citizen equally, it’s importance simply cannot be overstated,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes for the Western District of Arkansas. “This agreement ensures that ABF will take significant steps towards ensuring that water quality is not negatively affected by its operations.”

ABF Freight System Inc. will pay a civil penalty of $535,000, with a portion of the funds being directed to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the State of Maryland, and the State of Nevada. The company will also implement an enhanced stormwater compliance program at all its facilities, except those in Washington state.

“Companies must comply with Clean Water Act provisions to prevent waterways from being contaminated by industrial pollutants,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This consent decree ensures that measures will be implemented at hundreds of transportation facilities across the nation to protect nearby waterways and the communities that live along them.”

ABF Freight System Inc. voluntarily disclosed its noncompliance to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April 2015, after conducting its own compliance audits in 2013 and 2014. Between 2016 and 2019, EPA and state agencies conducted 15 inspections of ABF Freight System Inc.’s facilities, observing noncompliance with stormwater laws at permitted and non-permitted facilities.

The proposed consent decree requires ABF Freight System Inc. to implement and enhance its stormwater compliance program, including standard operating procedures, stormwater pollution prevention plan management, and tracking facility-specific corrective actions. The company will also conduct tiered management oversight inspections at its permitted and non-permitted facilities throughout the three-year implementation of the consent decree.

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