CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — A South Carolina truck driver has been ordered to pay over $271,000 following a DUI crash that polluted West Virginia waterways.
Dennis Eugene West, 58, of Moncks Corner, pleaded guilty to the negligent discharge of pollutants, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. West has been ordered to pay $271,444.66 in restitution.
Additionally, West received a three-year term of federal probation and a $5,000 fine. His trucking business also pleaded guilty, with insurance covering more than $900,000 for cleanup, containment, property damage, and injury expenses.
Prosecutors detailed the incident from August 2022, when West's tractor trailer crashed on the West Virginia Turnpike at the Skitter Creek Bridge in Fayette County. The collision resulted in the release of thousands of gallons of corrosive cleaning fluid into Paint Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha River.
West admitted to operating the vehicle under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.