HiNoon Petroleum to Pay over $60K in Yellowstone Water Pollution Settlement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement yesterday with Hi-Noon Petroleum Inc. resolving alleged Clean Water Act violations.

The EPA alleges that Hi-Noon dumped 4,800 gallons of gasoline into Grayling Creek on August 18, 2022.

The company has agreed to pay $20,000 and complete a $45,000 environmental project to resolve the alleged violations; this money will go to spill emergency response equipment and training to the Hebgen Basin Fire District in West Yellowstone, which responded to the spill.

The discharge resulted from an accident involving a Hi-Noon gasoline tanker truck on U.S. Highway 191 within the boundaries of the national park.

About 16.5 miles north of West Yellowstone, the spill occured in the early morning around 4 a.m. during a routine fuel delivery run. The pup trailer rolled and lost the entire capacity of the load. No injuries or fire was reported from the incident.

The West Yellowstone Fire Department, NPS personnel, and contractors for the Responsible Party responded to the scene immediately.

Gasoline flowed off the road and into adjacent wetlands and followed the wetland channel to Grayling Creek, a tributary to the Madison River.

EPA's Regional Administrator KC Becker stated, "EPA’s settlement with Hi-Noon underscores our commitment to holding polluters accountable, especially within our national parks. This response will help ensure that visitors continue to safely enjoy Yellowstone long into the future.”

The spill was reported to the YNP dispatch, the National Response Center, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Hi-Noon’s contractor worked with an EPA on-scene coordinator on soil removal and product recovery activities.

EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker stated, "EPA's settlment with Hi-Noon underscores our commitment to holding polluters accountable, especially within our national parks. This response will help ensure that visitors continue to safely enjoy Yellowstone long into the future."