A Federal Jury has convicted a Montana businessman of conspiracy and violations of the Clean Air Act. Peter Margiotta, who is president, CEO and owner of Custom Carbon Processing, Inc. will be sentenced in January 2020.
His firm is a slop-oil processing and recycling company near Wibaux. A fiery explosion and a fraudulent bill of lading led to charges against Margiotta.
It began when his company accepted hazardous materials even though the firm was not designed ot constructed to handle such materials. It was December 29, 2012 when a driver was offloading natural gas condensate or “drip gas” hauled from the Bakken oil fields near Watford City, North Dakota.
The bill of lading identified the product as “slop oil and water” which is considered non-hazardous. But while the driver was offloading the product, it caught fire injuring three employees. The fire burned for 8 days and fire investigators determined the burning product was not slop oil and water. The fraudulent bill of lading had been submitted to the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Great West Casualty Company to conceal the contents of the shipment according to the Department of Transportation.
