The Ohio Department of Transportation has launched a disciplinary process after a crew dumped truckloads of polluted debris into a federally-protected waterway.
The report from the state inspector general says an ODOT crew was cleaning a ditch in Ross County, then dumped the debris over a guardrail into Salt Creek in Vinton County. This all happened back in April and ODOT officials self-reported the incident to the inspector general.
State and federal officials say no charges will be filed. ODOT Spokesperson Matt Bruning says it’s now up to the department on how to discipline those employees.
“There are rules and there are regulations in place to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen and obviously when it does it’s something that we take seriously,” said Bruning.
The state paid more than $83,000 to clean-up the spot and another $35,000 to the U.S. EPA.
