Williston, N.D. (AP) Health Department fines against a trucking company operating in North Dakota's oil fields without a proper license have been dropped from $459,000 to $200,000. The Health Department and Casper, Wyoming-based Black Hills trucking, incorporated came to an agreement Thursday.
In April, the Health Department said the company could be fined $1,000 for every day of operation without a proper license. That fine could have run into the millions as the company had been in violation since 2008.
But Health Department Environmental Health Section Chief Dave Glatt says there was no malicious intent on behalf of the company and that they simply misinterpreted North Dakota regulations.
Black Hills still faces possible fines of up to $975,000 from the Department of Mineral Resources for the illegal dumping of oil field waste.