U.S. Department Of Transportation Sets HAZMAT Registration Renewal Due Date
Explosives Discovered In Sissonville
Dynamite Found In Montana Garage
Truck Carrying Explosives Flips In Warren County


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SETS HAZMAT REGISTRATION RENEWAL DUE DATE
Blasting companies with expiring U.S. DOT Hazardous Material Registration certificates must file for renewal and pay a $275 registration fee no later than July 1, 2008. Registration is required for any company vehicles requiring a U.S. DOT hazardous materials placard.

Companies should have already received a renewal form from the DOT in the mail last month. It is important to take all necessary steps to expedite registration once the printed forms arrive in order to receive an operating certificate for the 2008-2009 registration period. Companies without a current registration certificate may no longer transport explosives products after July 1. A copy of a current HAZMAT registration certificate must be kept in the cab of every truck transporting explosives products. Registration certificates are routinely checked during roadside inspections.

At this late date, blasting companies are encouraged to register on-line at http://hazmat.dot.gov/regs/register/register.htm. Online registration allows registrants to download an updated operating certificate immediately. Please note that the U.S. DOT no longer accepts expedited registration over the telephone. Since the U.S. DOT allows for multiple year registrations, check your certificate to determine your renewal date before registering online or via U.S. Mail.

EXPLOSIVES DISCOVERED IN SISSONVILLE
The owner of property on Edens Fork Road in Sissonville, West Virginia said a gas company drilling on his land recently discovered a magazine containing 700 pounds of old construction explosives.

The Kanawha County Sheriff's Department, along with officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a bomb squad, were called to the scene around 4:30 p.m. on June 11th when the magazine came open as the gas company was moving it. While drilling has been ongoing for the past five weeks it is unclear when workers actually discovered the explosives.

Officials with the ATF say the explosives didn't pose any danger and they will store the explosives in a safe place until they're detonated.

DYNAMITE FOUND IN MONTANA GARAGE
Emergency crews removed 400 pounds of dynamite from a crawl space under the garage of a Butte, Montana home late on June 19th. An auction company hired to sell the home's contents discovered the explosives. The home had been vacant for several years after the owner passed away.

Officials closed off Paxton Street as Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents from Helena, a bomb disposal team from Missoula and local officers removed the explosives. No evacuation of local residents was necessary.

The 22-year-old dynamite was later soaked in fuel oil, repacked into smaller boxes and then transported under police escort to the Montana Resources mine where the bomb squad detonated the explosives in stages.

Officials brought in a bomb-sniffing dog from Missoula to check for other explosives on the property due to Butte's history as a mining community and the discovery of discarded explosives in the past.

TRUCK CARRYING EXPLOSIVES FLIPS IN WARREN COUNTY
An explosives truck on its way to a rock quarry in Warren County, Georgia overturned on the morning of June 9th injuring the driver.

The truck, carrying boxes of blasting caps, cords and 1,000 pounds of ammonia nitrate, was traveling west on a two-lane highway when it ran off the shoulder of the roadway, flipped twice, landing upside down near an open pasture. When the truck flipped, the explosive components were mixed together and several of the blasting caps were thrown out of the truck, into a ditch. No explosion occurred.

A crew from the explosives company worked for several hours unloading the explosive product onto another truck and a HAZMAT team was called in to handle the diesel fuel cleanup.