{"operation":"document","citation":"12-0228","title":"TGO Technologies, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2013-05-17","effective_on":null,"summary":"12-0228 response to TGO Technologies, Inc. concerning 179.3.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0228.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0228.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0228","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2012/120228.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Material\nSafety Administration\n1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E.\nWashington. D.C. 20590\nChief Counsel\nftAY 17 2013\nMr. Rudolph S. Caparros\nPresident\nTGO Technologies, Inc.\n3471·B Regional Parkway\n·santa Rosa, CA 95403-8247\nRef. No.: 12-0228\nDear Mr. Caparros:\nThis letter is in regards to the ChlorTanker Total Containment System product and in response to your\nletter dated October 8, 2012, to Dr. Magdy EI-Sibaie, Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials\nSafety.\nThe Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration {PHMSA) works to protect the American\npublic and the environment by ensuring the safe and secure movement of hazardous materials to\nindustry and consumers by all transportation modes.\nContrary to what you state in your letter, the ChlorTanker Total Containment System (a secondary\ncontainment device) installed and used on DOT specification tank cars is in fact subject to the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR: 49 C.F.R. Parts 171-180). Your product must be first approved\nas required in the regulations before it can be used as intended for transport of hazardous materials in\nrailroad tank cars.\nAs we have stated previously, PHMSA and The Federal Railroad Administration have reviewed the\nChlorTanker device and concluded that your product design is not approved for use under the HMR. As\nwe informed you in our letter dated September 27, 2012, as specified in 49 C.F.R. § 179.3, application\nfor approval of designs, materials and construction, conversion or alteration of tank car tanks under\nthese specifications, complete with detailed prints, must be submitted in prescribed form to the\nExecutive Director-Tank Car Safety, MR, for consideration by its Tank Car Committee or as authorized\nunder the terms and conditions of a special permit granted under 49 C.F.R. § 107.105.\nTo be clear, PHMSA never approved the ChlorTankerTotal Containment System product. The\nrepresentations on your website that The ChlorTanker design is \"fully compliant with the federally\nmandated hazardous materials regulations established by the U.S. DOT\" are misleading.\nWe request that TGO Industries immediately remove all references to this product being U.S. DOT\ncompliant to prevent the incorrect perception that the device is approved by PHMSA or DOT.\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nPlease take appropriate action within 14 days of receiving this letter and notify PHMSA of your\ncompliance in writing.\nWe appreciate your timely attention to this matter.\nRespectfully,\nJL_ ~M-L--\nVanessa Allen Sutherland\nChief Counsel\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nChlorTanker™\nTotal Containment System\nTGO Technologies, Inc.\n3471-B Regional Parkway\nSanta Rosa, CA 95403-8247\nPhone: (707) 576-7778\nFax: (707) 576-7516\nOctober 8, 2012\nSent by Federal Express\nDr. Magdy El-Sibaie\nAssociate Administrator for\nHazardous Materials Safety\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\ns+ev.e.ns\n§ J1q .JDO -J~)\ntank Cars\nRe: Response to September 27, 2012, Letter\nDear Dr. Magdy El-Sibaie:\nCode 49 CFR 179.3 is not applicable to ChlorTanker. The ChlorTanker secondary containment\ntop fitting protective housing does not cause conversion or alteration of tank car tanks. It is\nmerely placed on top of an existing manway cover assembly and provides a space into which the\naccidental venting of chlorine would be contained. The bolts fastening the ChlorTanker to the\ntank car manway have been shown through engineering analysis and calculation to meet the\nrequirements of 49 CFR 179.100-12(c) (see attachment). ChlorTanker meets the AAR Standards\nand Regulations promulgated by 49 CFR -179. It is constructed, fabricated and code-stamped in\naccordance with ASME Code Section VITI. Div. 1, Standards and Guidance.\nI have included for your benefit and review a study conducted by The Chlorine Institute over a\nfive-month period comparing The Chlorine Institute \"C\"-K.it with ChlorTanker. This study\n. shows ChlorTanker to be the safest technology available for preventing and containing releases\nfrom chlorine tank cars.\nIncluded within The Chlorine Institute study is a first responders petition to replace the \"C\"-Kit\nwith secondary containment. More than two hundred hazmat experts, .firefighters and first\nresponders describe in great detail the many dangers and extreme hazards caused by the use of\nThe Chlorine Institute \"C\" capping kit. In summary, the safety concerns associated with the use\nof the \"C\"-Kit are as follows:\n\"\" Use of The Chlorine Institute \"C\"-Kit may cause the catastrophic failure of a chlorine tank\ncar, creating a toxic plume with a distance of not less than seven miles. The first mile will\nhave chlorine concentrations of 1,000 ppm, causing death after one or two breaths with no\nopportunity for escape or evacuation.\nL~-2)~\nweb site: www.tgotech.com sales info: sales@tgotech.com\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nDr. Magdy El-Sibaie\nAssociate Administrator for\nHazardous Materials Safety\nOctober 8, 2012\nPage 2\n~ The Chlorine Institute instruction manual fails to warn first responders that it is imperative\nto check the pressure of the car prior to applying the \"C\"-Kit device to the pressure relief\nvalve .\n., The \"C\"-Kit is not equipped with a pressure testing device and fails to explain the extreme\ndangers inherent to capping off and disabling a pressure relief valve.\n~ The\"C\" Capping Kit requires proper training of tens of thousands of first responders. The\n\"ChlorTanker\" Secondary containment system requires no hazmat first response or training\nand eliminates the extreme dangers inherent to capping off and disabling a pressure relief\nvalve.\nThe potential extreme hazards caused by use of The Chlorine Institute \"C\"-Kit to public health\nand safety warrants your referring this letter, The Chlorine Institute study and these serious\nmatters to your administrator for review.\nRegards,\nudolph S. Caparros\nPresident, TGO Technologies, Inc.\nweb site: www.tgotech.com sales info: sales@tgotech.com","truncated":false,"body_characters":6034}