UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13D

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Name of Issuer)

(Title of Class of Securities)

(CUSIP Number)

(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

(Date of Event Which Requires Filing of this Statement)

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of §240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box  ¨.

NOTE: Schedules filed in paper format shall include a signed original and five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See §240.13d-7 for other parties to whom copies are to be sent.

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

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CUSIP No. 422680108

Item 1. Security and Issuer.

This Schedule 13D relates to the common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Common Stock”), of Heckmann Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company” or the “Issuer”), the principal executive offices of which are located at 300 Cherrington Parkway, Suite 200, Coraopolis, PA 15108.

Item 2. Identity and Background.

Item 3. Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration.

The information contained in Item 4 is incorporated by reference into this Item 3. As described in Item 4, the 95,000,000 shares of Common Stock that are the subject of this Schedule 13D (the “Shares”) were acquired by the Reporting Person in the Merger (as defined below) in exchange for the Reporting Person’s equity interests in Power Fuels. Reporting Person was the sole equity owner of Power Fuels. Reporting Person also received approximately $125 million of cash consideration in connection with the Merger and the Company paid approximately $150 million of Power Fuels’ indebtedness, virtually all of which was guaranteed by the Reporting Person.

Item 4. Purpose of Transaction.

On November 30, 2012 (the “Closing Date”), the Company completed the transactions contemplated by an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated September 3, 2012 (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among the Company, Rough Rider Acquisition, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Buyer”), Badlands Power Fuels, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company doing business as Power Fuels (formerly known as Badlands Energy, LLC) (“Power Fuels”), and the Reporting Person, an individual and sole member of Power Fuels. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement and effective November 30, 2012, Power Fuels was merged with and into Buyer (the “Merger”), with Buyer continuing as the surviving entity and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

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Prior to the completion of the Merger, the Reporting Person held all of the equity interests of Power Fuels. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement and effective upon the completion of the Merger, the Reporting Person acquired beneficial ownership of the Shares and received additional consideration as described in Item 3.

The Reporting Person acquired such Shares for investment purposes and with the intent to obtain an ownership interest in the Company. The Reporting Person disclaims any membership in a group relating to the Company. Subject to the information contained in this Item 4 and Item 6, which is incorporated by reference into this Item 4, and subject to the stand-still provisions and lock-up provisions of the Stockholder’s Agreement described below, depending upon market conditions and other factors that the Reporting Person deems material, after the date of this Schedule 13D the Reporting Person may purchase additional shares of Common Stock or other securities of the Company in the open market, in private transactions or from the Company, or may dispose of all or a portion of the shares of Common Stock or other securities of the Company that he now owns or hereafter may acquire.

Pursuant to the terms of the Stockholder’s Agreement, dated as of November 30, 2012, by and between the Company and the Reporting Person (“Stockholder’s Agreement”) entered into in connection with the Merger Agreement, and effective as of the Closing Date, (a) the authorized number of directors on the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) was increased from eight to nine members and (b) the Reporting Person was elected to the Board to fill such vacancy thereon as a Class II director. Subject to certain limitations, the Reporting Person will have the right during the two-year period following the closing of the Merger to designate a second individual to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors as a Class I director until such time as the Reporting Person’s beneficial ownership in the Company has been reduced below 20% of the then-outstanding voting shares.

Inherent in his capacity as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, the Reporting Person intends to participate in and influence the affairs of the Company. In addition to his leadership of the Company as its Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the Reporting Person also may participate in and influence the affairs of the Company through the exercise of voting rights with respect to the beneficial ownership of the Shares, subject to the voting provisions of the Stockholder’s Agreement described below. Pursuant to the Stockholder’s Agreement, for a period of two years from the date of the Stockholder’s Agreement, and thereafter for so long as the Reporting Person beneficially owns voting securities representing at least 5% of the voting securities outstanding at such time and is the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, the Reporting Person must vote all voting securities owned by him in accordance with the recommendation of the Board with respect to any business or proposal on which the Company’s stockholders are entitled to vote.

In addition, under the terms of the Stockholder’s Agreement, the Reporting Person will be subject to customary standstill restrictions until the earlier of two years following the Closing Date and the date the Reporting Person’s employment as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer is terminated without “Cause” or for “Good Reason” as defined in the Executive Employment Agreement dated as of November 30, 2012 between the Company and the Reporting Person (the “Employment Agreement”). As defined in the Employment Agreement, “Cause” shall be deemed to exist if the Reporting Person shall at any time: (i) commit a material breach of the Employment Agreement, (ii) be guilty of gross negligence, recklessness or willful misconduct in connection with or affecting the business or affairs of the Company, (iii) engage in material and intentional unauthorized use, misappropriation, destruction or diversion of any tangible or intangible asset or corporate opportunity of the Company, or (iv) be convicted of, or plead no contest to, a felony criminal offense. Termination of the Reporting Person’s employment as a result of the Reporting Person’s death or Disability shall not constitute termination “without Cause.” As defined in the Employment Agreement, “Good Reason” shall mean: (i) a material diminution in the Reporting Person’s base salary, other than as mutually agreed to by the parties as set forth in the Employment Agreement, (ii)

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a material diminution in the Reporting Person’s authority, duties, and executive responsibilities with the Company, (iii) a material change in the geographic location(s) described in the Employment Agreement at which the Reporting Person must perform services under the Employment Agreement, including a material change in the location of the Company’s principal office at which the Reporting Person renders services as provided in the Employment Agreement, excluding required business travel described therein, (iv) a requirement that the Reporting Person report directly to any person or entity other than the Board, or (v) a material breach of the Employment Agreement by the Company.

The standstill restrictions generally prevent the Reporting Person from (i) acquiring any additional new voting securities of the Company and (ii) taking a number of actions that might result in the Reporting Person exerting influence or control over the Company, including but not limited to the following:

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The foregoing is a summary of the material provisions of the Stockholder’s Agreement and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Stockholder’s Agreement, a copy of which is attached to this Schedule 13D as Exhibit 2 and which is incorporated by reference into this document.

Other than as described in this Schedule 13D, the Reporting Person does not have any present plans or proposals that relate to, or that would result in, any of the events described in paragraphs (a) to (j) of Item 4 of the Schedule 13D instructions. The Reporting Person reserves the right to formulate plans or make proposals, and take such actions with respect to his investment in the Company, including any or all of the items specified in paragraphs (a) to (j) of Item 4 of the Schedule 13D instructions and any other actions as he may determine.

Item 5. Interest in Securities of the Issuer.

The disclosures in Item 4 above are incorporated by reference into this Item 5. The Reporting Person is the beneficial owner of the Shares, constituting approximately 37.7% of the Company’s outstanding shares of Common Stock. Such percentage is based upon 156,707,244 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of November 2, 2012, as reported in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2012, and 95,000,000 shares of Common Stock of the Company issued on November 30, 2012 in connection with the Merger, and does not take into account the shares of Common Stock that would be issued upon the conversion of any shares of preferred stock, or upon the exercise of any options or warrants, that are held by any person other than the Reporting Person.

The Reporting Person has sole power to vote and direct the vote of all Shares, subject to the voting provisions of the Stockholder’s Agreement described above. Of the Shares, (a) 85,000,000 shares are owned of record by the Reporting Person and (b) 10,000,000 shares are held in escrow pursuant to an Escrow Agreement among the Company, Buyer, the Reporting Person and a third party escrow agent (the “Escrow Agreement”) and are owned of record by the Reporting Person. The Reporting Person’s indemnification obligations under the Merger Agreement, if any, will be satisfied solely by the Shares held in the escrow account pursuant to the Escrow Agreement, subject to certain limited exceptions. Of the 10,000,000 escrowed shares, 7,500,000 shares will be released from escrow to the Reporting Person fifteen months after the Closing Date, and the remaining 2,500,000 shares will be released from escrow to the Reporting Person three years after the Closing Date, subject in each case to any open claims. The foregoing is a summary of the material provisions of the Escrow Agreement and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Escrow Agreement, a copy of which is attached to this Schedule 13D as Exhibit 3 and which is incorporated by reference into this document.

Except in connection with his acquisition of the Shares described in Items 4 and 5 of this Schedule 13D, the Reporting Person has not effected any transactions in the Common Stock during the sixty days prior to the date of this Schedule 13D.

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Item 6. Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships With Respect to Securities of the Issuer.

Pursuant to the lock-up provision in the Stockholder’s Agreement, for a period of two years from the date of the Stockholder’s Agreement, the Reporting Person shall not transfer any of the Shares without the prior written consent of the Company, except that the Reporting Person shall be permitted to transfer up to two percent of the Shares beginning on the 12-month anniversary of the Closing Date pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 Plan.

Thereafter, the Reporting Person may transfer Shares without the Company’s consent, provided that (i) if the transfer of the Shares is pursuant to a registration statement, the registration statement must comply with the Stockholder’s Agreement, (ii) if the transfer is effected (A) pursuant to a registration statement or a privately-negotiated transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), in each case in which the Reporting Person negotiates the terms of such transfer directly with the third party purchaser of such shares or (B) in accordance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act but not pursuant to the manner of sale provisions specified in Rule 144(f) thereunder, in each case the Reporting Person shall not knowingly transfer Shares:

The restrictions set forth in the foregoing two bullet points will terminate at such time as the Reporting Person beneficially own less than 10% of the voting securities of the Company.

Notwithstanding the transfer restrictions above, during the two-year lock-up period and anytime thereafter, the Reporting Person may transfer the Shares :

Any transfer of the Shares by the Reporting Person in violation of the terms and conditions of the Stockholder’s Agreement will be null and void, regardless of whether the transferee had knowledge of the transfer restrictions.

The foregoing is a summary of the material provisions of the Stockholder’s Agreement and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Stockholder’s Agreement, a copy of which is attached to this Schedule 13D as Exhibit 2 and which is incorporated by reference into this document.

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Item 7. Material to be Filed as Exhibits.

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SIGNATURE

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

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