ABF Freight agreed to pay $535,000 civil penalty across federal and four state governments and implement a company-wide stormwater compliance program including designated compliance managers, enhanced training, and management oversight inspections, resolving violations at transportation facilities in eight states.

ABF Freight System, Inc. — National Stormwater CWA Violations at Transportation Facilities (2023)

Outcome: ABF Freight agreed to pay a $535,000 civil penalty split between the United States and four state governments and implement a company-wide stormwater compliance program at transportation facilities in eight states, resolving documented Clean Water Act violations discovered during EPA audits beginning in 2013.

ABF Freight System, Inc., a major national freight carrier and subsidiary of ArcBest Corporation, operated truck freight terminals across the United States that constituted industrial facilities subject to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) industrial stormwater permit requirements. At multiple facilities in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, and Ohio, ABF either discharged stormwater associated with industrial activities to waters of the United States without required permits or operated without complying with conditions of obtained stormwater permits.

The violations were identified during EPA compliance audits in 2013-2014 and verified through inspections between 2016 and 2019. The settlement, announced March 20, 2023, required ABF to pay a $535,000 civil penalty distributed across the federal government and four state regulatory agencies: $483,064 to the United States, $18,214.50 to Maryland, $18,065 to Louisiana DEQ, and $15,656.50 to Nevada DEP. In addition to the monetary penalty, ABF was required to develop and implement a comprehensive company-wide stormwater compliance program including designated stormwater compliance managers at the corporate and facility level, enhanced employee training programs, and management oversight inspections for three years.

The ABF case illustrates a pattern common among multi-facility industrial operators: compliance programs developed for individual facility operating permits without a company-wide framework ensuring consistent permit coverage across all locations. Truck freight terminals, with their large paved surface areas where vehicle maintenance, fuel transfer, and cargo handling occur, are significant sources of polluted stormwater runoff when NPDES permit requirements are not actively managed.

Primary Source: ABF Freight, Inc. Clean Water Act Settlement Information Sheet | US EPA