Investigations

On March 20, 2017, Garald Bennett was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Bay City, Michigan, to 1 year and a day in Federal prison and 2 years’ supervised release for falsely certifying and marking cargo tanks as having passed hydrostatic pressure tests and wet fluorescent magnetic particle tests as required by the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Act.

 

DOT regulations require cargo tanks used to transport explosive materials to be tested and recertified as to their structural integrity every 5 years. Hydrostatic pressure tests and wet fluorescent magnetic particle tests are required as part of the recertification process. The regulations also require people working on such tanks to have specified qualifications and conduct their work according to established protocols. These regulations are designed to ensure the safety of the public on the roadways and also the people who work on and around the cargo tanks.

 

Garald Bennett was the manager of LPG Service and Leasing LLC (LPG), a cargo-tank testing facility located in Cass City, Michigan. He falsely certified tank markings indicating that the cargo tanks had passed the required certification tests, when the tanks had not been subjected to those tests.