Ports and Infrastructure

Transporting hazmat:
Only a problem if it leaks

By Peter Hull

In August 2007, refrigerant gas leaking from four 40-foot-long cylinders closed the South Carolina State Ports Authority’s North Charleston Terminal for more than a day.
Safety officials were concerned that the highly flammable chemical — difluoroethylene — might ignite.

In the end, no injuries or environmental pollution from the leak were reported. But it did cause one or two logistical headaches.

Specialist technicians from the cylinders’ manufacturer were flown to Charleston to contain the leak, and the more than 1,000 trucks that move through the terminal on an average day were unable to drop off or pick up containers.
It took two days for the terminal to resume normal operations.

Hazmat Stats 
In 2005, the most recent data, there were more than 15,800 hazardous materials incidents reported in the U.S., according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA. The overwhelming majority of these were highway-related.

That number fell sharply after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when hazmat transportation security regulations were tightened.

While the incident in Charleston was almost impossible to prevent, it does highlight the added attention to detail required when transporting hazardous materials.
Here’s a primer on the basics of hazmat transportation.
 
Who regulates shipments?
The Department of Transportation, or DOT, oversees the Hazardous Materials Regulations, which regulate all activities involved with the transport of hazmat.
This includes interstate and intrastate shipments and foreign commerce by rail, air, road, or water. The regulations govern transportation-related activities by shippers, brokers, forwarding agents, and freight forwarders and carriers, including contract trucking and transport companies.

How does DOT define a hazardous material?
DOT defines hazmat as a substance or material capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported. This includes materials that are deemed flammable, corrosive, or toxic.
 
What are DOT’s general hazardous materials classifications?

Hazard Class 1: Explosives
Hazard Class 2: Compressed gases
Hazard Class 3: Flammable liquids
Hazard Class 4: Flammable solids
Hazard Class 5: Oxidizers and organic peroxides
Hazard Class 6: Toxic materials
Hazard Class 7: Radioactive material
Hazard Class 8: Corrosive material
Hazard Class 9: Miscellaneous
 
How important is hazmat training to a business?
Let’s put it this way: More than one-third of the DOT’s enforcement actions for violations of the hazardous materials transportation regulations involve the failure of employers to provide training or maintain test records, according to PHMSA.

In most cases, violations are attributed to failure to provide specific training. For example, an investigator questions incorrect entries on a shipping paper prepared by a hazmat employee, who responds that he was neither instructed, nor tested, by his employer regarding the preparation of shipping papers.

This violation likely resulted in a fine for the company.

For information about PHMSA training seminars visit: www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/training/seminars
 
Enforcement
Actually, the correct term is “civil penalties,” not “fines.” In calendar year 2007, PHMSA brought 169 hazardous materials civil penalty cases and collected more than $893,000 in penalties.

Under the federal hazardous materials law, the maximum civil penalty that may be assessed for a violation is $50,000. The minimum civil penalty is $250, except for training violations that are set at a minimum of $450.

As examples (and warnings, perhaps), an Alvin, Texas, company was fined $5,950 for providing incorrect paperwork and failing to provide general awareness and security training. And a Winchester, Va., company was fined $7,000 for transporting hazardous materials — in this case, explosives — in unauthorized packaging.
 
Online Resources
To learn more about hazmat transportation and handling, visit the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Web site, part of the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat).