[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45582-45583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17093]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-2002-11270, Notice No. 02-07]


Safety Advisory: Retesting of Cylinders Without Calibration of 
Test Equipment

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Safety advisory notice.

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SUMMARY: This is to notify the public that RSPA is investigating BKC 
Industries, Inc., 2117 Will Suitt Road, Creedmoor, NC 27522 for the 
marking of DOT cylinders and/or tube trailers

[[Page 45583]]

without calibrating its test apparatus. RSPA has determined that, 
between September of 1998 and October of 2001, BKC Industries, Inc. 
(BKC) apparently marked and certified an undetermined number of 
cylinders and/or tube trailers as having been properly tested in 
accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), when the 
cylinders and/or tube trailers were tested using equipment that was not 
properly calibrated.
    Part of performing a proper hydrostatic retest as set forth in the 
HMR is the calibration process. A hydrostatic retest and visual 
inspection, conducted as prescribed in the HMR, are used to verify the 
structural integrity of a cylinder. If the hydrostatic retest and 
visual inspection are not performed in accordance with the HMR, a 
cylinder with compromised structural integrity may be returned to 
service when it should be condemned. Extensive property damage, serious 
personal injury, or death could result from rupture of a cylinder. 
Cylinders that have not been retested in accordance with the HMR may 
not be charged or filled with compressed gas or other hazardous 
materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terrell Hinds, Hazardous Materials 
Enforcement Specialist, Office of Hazardous Materials Enforcement, 
Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1701 Columbia Avenue, Suite 520, College Park, GA 
30337, Telephone: (404) 305-6120, Fax: (404) 305-6125.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through its inspection of BKC, RSPA has 
determined that BKC apparently marked an undetermined number of 
cylinders as having been properly tested in accordance with the HMR, 
when the test apparatus was not calibrated properly. During the 
inspection, RSPA discovered that the test cylinder that appeared on BKC 
Industries' test reports was not physically in the BKC facility. 
Therefore, this cylinder could not have been used to calibrate the test 
equipment.
    The cylinders in question are stamped with the following RIN: D236. 
The marking appears in the following pattern:

                                   D2
                                M       Y
                                   63
 

    M is the month of retest (e.g. 08), and y is the year of retest 
(e.g. 01).
    Anyone who has a cylinder or tube trailer that has been serviced by 
BKC Industries, Inc. and that is marked with RIN D236 and stamped with 
a retest date between August 1998 and October 2001 should consider the 
cylinder unsafe and not fill the cylinder unless the cylinder is first 
properly retested by a DOT-authorized retest facility. Filled cylinders 
should be vented or otherwise safely discharged, and then taken to a 
DOT-authorized cylinder retest facility for proper retest to determine 
compliance with the HMR and their suitability for continuing service. 
Under no circumstances should a cylinder and/or tube trailer described 
in this safety advisory be filled, refilled or used for its intended 
purpose until it is reinspected and retested by a DOT-authorized retest 
facility.
    It is further recommended that persons finding or possessing a 
cylinder and or tube/trailer described in this safety advisory contact 
Mr. Hinds for additional information.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 2, 2002.
Robert A. McGuire,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Material Safety.
[FR Doc. 02-17093 Filed 7-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P