FAA fines Pa. shipper, FedEx for hazmat violations

Alleged hazardous materials shipments were offered for air transport without proper paperwork and package labels.

   The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $195,000 civil penalty against S. Vitale Pyrotechnic Industries of New Castle, Pa., for allegedly violating the country’s hazardous materials rules.
   The FAA alleged that on June 17, 2014, the company offered an undeclared hazmat shipment to Delta Air Lines for transport aboard a passenger flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. The shipment included four 20-gallon tanks containing some propane, which is a flammable gas. The Transportation Security Administration discovered the shipment during cargo screening.
   Hazmat regulations prohibit propane from being transported on passenger planes. The FAA alleges the propane tanks in the shipment were not manufactured to withstand the pressure that would arise in any aircraft. In addition, Vitale failed to indicate the hazmat details in its shipping paperwork, as well as properly label the packaging, the FAA said.
   The agency also proposed a $96,200 civil penalty against FedEx Corp. of Memphis, Tenn. for hazmat violations.
   Between July 15 and July 25, 2014, the FAA conducted an onsite inspection of shipments that FedEx accepted at its Indianapolis facility. The FAA alleges FedEx accepted three shipments of hazardous materials that were not prepared in line with hazmat regulations. The shipments contained methanol, printer ink and sodium hydroxide.
   The FAA said, “FedEx accepted the methanol shipment without ensuring it was properly marked, labeled and placarded; the printer ink was in drums that did not meet minimum pressure tests for containers used to transport that type of substance; and the sodium hydroxide shipment was not properly described and certified on a shipping paper.”
   The agency also discovered several dangerous goods identification tags on the outside of cargo containers designated for hazardous shipments were either “incorrect or obscured.”