The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed two civil penalties be levied on Amazon, the e-commerce retailer, for allegedly violating US hazardous materials regulations.
In the first case, the FAA has proposed a $78,000 civil penalty be levied against Amazon, alleging that on 24 May 2014 Amazon offered FedEx two cardboard boxes containing corrosive rust stain preventer for air transportation from Plainfield, Illinois to Davenport, Florida.
Workers at FedEx’s sorting facility in Lake Wales, Florida, discovered one of the containers leaked through the cardboard box.
The FAA alleges the package was not properly marked, labelled, packaged or accompanied by shipping papers indicating the amount, type and hazardous nature of the material inside.
The FAA also alleges Amazon did not provide required emergency response information with the shipment.
In the second case, the FAA has proposed a $52,000 civil penalty against Amazon, alleging that on 2 June 2014 Amazon offered UPS a non-specification cardboard box containing a flammable gas for air transportation from Whitestown, Indiana, to Glendale, California.
Workers in UPS’s Louisville, Kentucky, sorting facility discovered the container. The FAA alleges the package was not properly marked, labelled or accompanied by shipping papers indicating the amount, type and hazardous nature of the material inside.
The FAA also alleges Amazon did not provide required emergency response information with the shipment.
Amazon has 30 days from receipt of the FAA’s enforcement letters to respond to the agency.
Earlier this month (June), the FAA proposed a $350,000 civil penalty against the retailer for another alleged breach of hazardous materials regulations dating to October 2014
Amazon.com has been approached for a statement on the FAA allegations.
