New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph A. Foster and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Thomas S. Burack today announced that Calkins Portable Toilet, Inc. (Calkins) of Danville, Vermont entered pleas of guilty to Class A misdemeanor charges of reckless conduct for transporting portable toilets while they contained human waste. Calkins agreed to pay a $6,000 fine and to make an educational presentation for the New Hampshire Association of Septage Haulers. Fifteen hundred dollars of the fine is suspended upon 5 years of good behavior during which any further violations would result in additional penalties.

New Hampshire law prohibits the transportation of portable toilets over public roads when they contain human waste. Portable toilets are required to be pumped out and the septage hauled by particular vehicles licensed to do so through the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). The law requires that a licensed septage hauling vehicle remove all waste from a portable toilet before transport.

On July 20, 2013 a NH State Police Trooper noticed liquid leaking from a Calkins pickup truck loaded with three portable toilets travelling on I-93 in the vicinity of Littleton, NH. The Calkins driver was allowed to exit the Interstate to park at a location that allowed for safe inspection. The trooper found that the toilets had not been emptied of human waste prior to transport. The trooper contacted NHDES for guidance as to the proper resolution of the situation. A licensed Calkins' septage hauling truck was called to pump the waste out of the portable toilets, so the pickup could return to the company. NHDES referred enforcement of the violations to the attorney general because Calkins has been a licensed septage hauler for over 20 years and companies that improperly transport portable toilets tend to realize substantial economic advantage over those companies that follow environmental regulations. Calkins entered into the negotiated pleas of guilty to three counts of recklessly engaging in conduct that may place another in danger of serious bodily injury and paid the fine in full on August 5, 2014 in the Littleton District Court.

"NHDES has a responsibility to protect the public's health and the environment from the mishandling and transportation of human wastes," said Thomas S. Burack, DES Commissioner. "We do this through the law and rules requiring that vehicles used for transport of human waste be subject to NHDES inspections and that they be identified and properly permitted for commercial transport of human waste," said Commissioner Burack. "In this case, an observant trooper contributed to the safety of our roads for the public as well as to the environmental health of our state," said Attorney General Joseph A. Foster. "Not only is improperly transporting human waste a health and safety violation, but businesses that ignore our state's environmental laws often obtain an unfair financial advantage over those that comply. My office will continue to work closely NHDES and others to ensure compliance with our environmental laws," he said.