Fort Smith-based ABF Freight System Inc. has agreed to a settlement resolving allegations it violated the Clean Water Act, according to a release by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas.
The consent decree includes a proposed settlement where ABF will implement a comprehensive stormwater compliance program companywide at all its transportation facilities except those in the state of Washington. It also includes a $530,000 civil penalty, some of which will be allocated to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the state of Maryland, and the state of Nevada who were all part of the settlement.
In 2015, ABF voluntarily told the Environmental Protection Agency it failed to obtain industrial stormwater permit coverage at several facilities and discovered other areas of noncompliance through its own audits. ABF is a subsidiary of Fort Smith based ArcBest.
"Being a good steward is important to ArcBest and that means following environmental policies and being a leader in the ESG space," a company spokesman said in an emailed statement. "When we recognized an issue back in 2014, we voluntarily reached out to agencies and began working to correct the problem."
The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.