Joplin 44 truck stop owner to pay fine for Clean Water Act violation

Jan. 6—The Joplin 44 Petro Truck Stop has agreed to pay a fine of more than $186,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency over alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act at its location at 4240 S. Highway 43 near the intersection of Highway 43 and Interstate 44.

The EPA said in a written release that the Joplin truck stop and the Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcott, Iowa, agreed to pay a total of $390,784 in fines to resolve alleged violations at both locations.

Both stations are owned by the Iowa 80 Group Inc. The site in Iowa is advertised as the world’s largest truck stop.

The EPA said the stations failed to develop and implement a spill prevention, control and countermeasure plan or facility response plan as required by the Clean Water Act.

At the Joplin 44 truck stop, the EPA said it “alleges that Respondent (truck stop) failed to fully prepare and implement an adequate SPCC Plan and failed to prepare an FRP. Respondent has reached agreement with EPA on the terms of a proposed Consent Agreement/Final Order which would resolve this matter. Under the proposed Consent Agreement/Final Order, Respondent will pay a civil penalty of $186,642.”

The summary said the public can send comments about the settlement to the EPA until Friday.

“Facilities that store 1,320 gallons or greater of oil products in aboveground storage tanks are subject to SPCC regulations,” the EPA said in the written release. “Such plans require, among other things, proper containment to control petroleum releases, inspections of tanks and piping, and integrity testing of petroleum storage equipment. In response to EPA’s findings, the facilities revised their SPCC plans.”

EPA Region 7 spokesperson Madelyn Bremer said that in order to certify present compliance at Joplin 44 in the consent agreement and final order, the facility underwent tank inspections, as required by SPCC regulations, which revealed the need for repairs.

Bremer said as a result of those findings, repairs were made to address internal lining and coating failures on the nozzles of the large above-ground storage tank at the facility.

Heather DeBaillie, vice president of operations and marketing with the Iowa 80 Group, said the EPA inspected the two locations in 2023 and “alleged several deficiencies with our Spill Control and Containment plans and certain FRP paperwork.”

“We have agreed to a settlement with the EPA,” DeBaillie said. “Our SPCC plans are updated, and our paperwork is now prepared correctly. This was not related to a spill.”

Bremer confirmed that the inspections were “not related to any unauthorized discharges.”

The Joplin 44 Petro also is getting a major upgrade, with the company filing a $15 million building permit with the city of Joplin last year for the work.

Delia Meier, a senior vice president for the company, said it includes a 20,000-square-foot expansion that will create room for more restaurants and customers in the food court.

She described Petro as a “small city” that gets between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors a day, has 220 employees, and is open 24 hours a day every day of the year.

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