BILLINGS — An eastern Montana trucking company and its owner were convicted of more than a dozen federal charges filed after a 2012 explosion destroyed an oil processing plant.
The Billings Gazette reports Woody’s Trucking and Donald Wood Jr. were found guilty Tuesday of conspiracy, fraud, transporting hazardous materials without proper documentation and obstructing an investigation. Sentencing is set for October.
The case began when a Woody’s truck hauling natural gas condensate caught fire at Custom Carbon Processing Inc. near Wibaux. Three workers were injured.
Woody’s Trucking hadn’t notified its insurance company it was hauling hazardous materials. The insurance company is suing Woody’s Trucking after it paid $250,000 to two injured men based on Woody’s statements that it was hauling saline water.
Federal charges are pending against Custom Carbon Processing for not installing explosion-proof wiring and failing to mitigate other dangers.