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Rail News: Safety
1/11/2005
Rail News: Safety
Bulkmatic Transport accepts plea agreement for breaking federal haz-mat transportation laws, USDOT says
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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Bulkmatic Transport Co. accepted a plea agreement and pled guilty to felony charges for failing to comply with federal hazardous-materials transportation laws.
Through an investigation conducted by the DOT Office of Inspector General and Federal Railroad Administration, the USDOT determined Bulkmatic failed to properly train an employee who was seriously injured while unloading sulfuric acid by himself at a Chattanooga, Tenn., facility in 2001. The employee hadn't received haz-mat handling training and wasn't wearing personal protection equipment when about 1,800 gallons of acid spilled, according to the USDOT.
Bulkmatic will pay a $27,500 civil penalty to the FRA for failing to train or directly supervise the employee and $44,750 to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for other regulatory violations. The dry bulk commodity transportation and storage service provider also will pay a $400,000 fine to the U.S. Department of Justice, abide by a three-year probationary period, and implement a comprehensive program to comply with all haz-mat laws and regulations, and ensure all employees are properly trained, tested and certified before handling hazardous materials.
"Anything less than total adherence to safety laws and regulations will be dealt with in the harshest of terms," said Robert Jamison, who was named FRA acting administrator last week, in a prepared statement.
During the past week, haz-mat safety has been a hot topic in the rail industry because of one major and one minor accident. On Jan. 6, a Norfolk Southern Railway train collided with an unmanned, stationary locomotive on a siding in Graniteville, S.C., releasing chlorine from three tank cars and killing nine people, including the train's engineer. The FRA, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident.
On Jan. 8, a Union Pacific Railroad train moving concentrated hydrogen peroxide and diesel fuel derailed near Houston, causing some of the hazardous materials to leak from tank cars.
Through an investigation conducted by the DOT Office of Inspector General and Federal Railroad Administration, the USDOT determined Bulkmatic failed to properly train an employee who was seriously injured while unloading sulfuric acid by himself at a Chattanooga, Tenn., facility in 2001. The employee hadn't received haz-mat handling training and wasn't wearing personal protection equipment when about 1,800 gallons of acid spilled, according to the USDOT.
Bulkmatic will pay a $27,500 civil penalty to the FRA for failing to train or directly supervise the employee and $44,750 to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for other regulatory violations. The dry bulk commodity transportation and storage service provider also will pay a $400,000 fine to the U.S. Department of Justice, abide by a three-year probationary period, and implement a comprehensive program to comply with all haz-mat laws and regulations, and ensure all employees are properly trained, tested and certified before handling hazardous materials.
"Anything less than total adherence to safety laws and regulations will be dealt with in the harshest of terms," said Robert Jamison, who was named FRA acting administrator last week, in a prepared statement.
During the past week, haz-mat safety has been a hot topic in the rail industry because of one major and one minor accident. On Jan. 6, a Norfolk Southern Railway train collided with an unmanned, stationary locomotive on a siding in Graniteville, S.C., releasing chlorine from three tank cars and killing nine people, including the train's engineer. The FRA, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident.
On Jan. 8, a Union Pacific Railroad train moving concentrated hydrogen peroxide and diesel fuel derailed near Houston, causing some of the hazardous materials to leak from tank cars.
