Truck driver sentenced for illegally dumping 5,342 gallons of diesel in Maryland
A Maryland truck driver was sentenced to prison for violations of environmental protection laws after he admitted to dumping 5,342 gallons of diesel fuel in separate locations in Anne Arundel County in order to increase his pay.
On November 6, 2024, Larry A. Gross, 46, pleaded guilty to two counts of the unlawful discharge of oil, specifically diesel fuel, according to Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown.
Gross was sentenced to 60 days of incarceration to be followed by five years of supervised probation. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
“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.”
Gross was the principal operator of H&M Truckin, LLC and a contract employee of fuel distributor M Pittman Enterprises (MPE).
Officials say that on October 3, 2023, Gross was operating an MPE tanker when picked up a load of 7,500 gallons of diesel from a fuel terminal in Baltimore City, Maryland.
In the early morning hours of October 4, Gross delivered 2,159 gallons of diesel to a fuel depot in Elkridge, Maryland.
“Like other tanker truck drivers, Mr. Gross was paid by the number of pickup fuel loads and not the number of deliveries. Tanker trucks cannot carry both diesel fuel and gasoline at the same time. If a tanker truck driver, like Mr. Gross, has leftover diesel fuel in the tanker after a delivery, it has to be completely emptied before it can be filled with gasoline, and vice versa. Mr. Gross proceeded to illegally discharge the remaining 5,342 gallons of diesel fuel,” Brown said.
“On October 4, 2023, at approximately 2:01 a.m., Mr. Gross dumped diesel fuel on the shoulder of Route 10 in Brooklyn Park, Anne Arundel County. Less than an hour later, at approximately 2:56 a.m., Mr. Gross stopped the truck in the 500 block of Digiulian Boulevard, Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County, and illegally dumped more diesel fuel. Dash camera video from the truck shows diesel fuel running down the back toward the front of the truck. The discharged diesel fuel was then captured at 3:01 a.m. on surveillance video flowing down the roadway,” said Brown. “Soon thereafter, at approximately 3:13 a.m., Mr. Gross returned to the shoulder of Route 10 in Brooklyn Park and discharged even more diesel fuel. At approximately 3:43 a.m., Mr. Gross— whose truck was now empty due to his illegal discharge of over five thousand gallons of diesel fuel—returned to the Motiva fuel terminal in Baltimore City and loaded 8,200 gallons of gasoline onto his truck.”
Officials said soil samples showed pollutants including petroleum bases hydrocarbons and diesel range organics.