Some crimes are so blatant they take you by surprise. This case in Maryland is one of those, as a truck driver was sentenced for illegally dumping more than 5,000 gallons of diesel at different spots around town. He pled guilty after being caught on surveillance and dashcam footage, and he’s now slated for 60 days in Anne Arundel County Detention Center with five years of probation.
The office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown issued a release on Tuesday saying the driver dumped the diesel so he could be paid for another load pickup. It’s common to receive pay for tanker fill-ups rather than the number of deliveries, which explains why he chose to discharge the fuel ASAP. For reference, he received approximately 7,500 gallons of diesel on Oct. 3, 2023, and by 3:43 a.m. the next day, he loaded another 8,200 gallons of gasoline. The in-between is what landed him in legal trouble.
The driver made his first stop in the early morning hours of Oct. 4 at a Quarles station in Elkridge, Maryland, delivering 2,159 gallons of diesel. Per the attorney general’s release, that’s the only portion of the load he discharged legally. The remaining 5,342 gallons were dumped along the shoulder of Route 10, or on the 500 block of Digiulian Boulevard in Glen Burnie, Maryland. He made three separate stops after delivering to the Quarles location to avoid being noticed.
Unfortunately for the driver, a surveillance camera caught him on Digiulian Boulevard at 3:01 a.m. as fuel gushed down the roadway. The footage even shows him driving through the stream, leaving tire tracks as further visual proof. A later field inspection determined the diesel flowed 250 yards toward a cul-de-sac, entered a storm drain, flowed underneath the Quarles station, and into a local sediment pond. He dumped approximately 1,000 gallons of diesel during that stop.
That’s nothing compared to the roughly 4,300 gallons he released on either side of Route 10, where nearby businesses are serviced by public water. Soil samples taken at Digiulian Boulevard and along the highway showed evidence of pollutants like petroleum-based hydrocarbons and diesel range organics.
“Illegally dumping thousands of gallons of diesel fuel is an irresponsible act that jeopardizes public health. Toxins from this fuel can harm our waterways, contaminate our soil, and endanger our health,” said Attorney General Brown. “Our Office will take action against truck drivers who risk Marylanders’ safety in order to make a profit. Trucker drivers who handle fuel must comply with Maryland’s laws and dispose of it properly.”
The driver’s initial sentencing was for a full year of incarceration, though all but 60 days of it was suspended. The court also ordered him to pay $10,000 to the Maryland Oil Disaster Containment, Clean Up, and Contingency Fund. Still, judging by other environmental crime enforcement we’ve seen, he likely could have earned a much more severe punishment.
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