Well-known Iowa Truck Stop Faces $390,000 Penalty

A substantial sum of money is being withdrawn from a truck stop.

Iowa's popular I-80 Truckstop ("World's Largest") has been hit with a fine from the EPA, according to the Des Moines Register.

This location is truly remarkable, exceeding the expectations of an ordinary truck stop. It features a truck repair garage, a cinema, a laundromat, a trucking museum, a chiropractor, and a variety of other amenities.

Reasons for Facing a Penalty

The truckstop's sister station is Joplin 44 in Missouri. Both it and the Iowa 80 stop did not have "an adequate plan for addressing a potential fuel spill" in place, according to the EPA.

So because of that, the stations' owner Iowa 80 Group Inc., is paying a combined $390,784 for violating the federal Clean Water Act for facilities that have over 1,320 gallons of oil products in above-ground storage tanks (both facilities have over 1 million gallons of above-ground fuel, gas, lubricants, and oil). The Iowa stop is $204,142 of that fine, while the Missouri stop is $186,642.

Iowa 80 Group Inc. announced that they have engaged a new company to assist in developing their spill prevention strategy to ensure compliance with EPA regulations. They noted that no spills have occurred to date and that the secondary containment for the storage tanks is designed to hold fuel in case of a tank breach.

In 2023, inspections revealed violations of the Clean Water Act. The EPA warned that a spill occurring on the Iowa side could lead to contamination of Mud Creek, which ultimately feeds into the Mississippi and Cedar Rivers.