Summary

On November 22, Dale B. Nason, owner of Statewide Fire Protection (SFP), Buxton, ME, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland, ME to six months in prison and ordered to pay $11,203 in restitution for violating federal hazardous materials (HazMat) transportation laws by falsely certifying the hydrostatic retesting of high-pressure carbon dioxide fire extinguishers. Nason pled guilty in July. Investigation disclosed that, from May 2001 until December 2004, Nason fraudulently marked the Retester Identification Number (RIN) of another company on high-pressure cylinders which had not been tested in accordance with DOT’s HazMat regulations. Customers for these fire extinguishers included fire departments, numerous public and private schools, hospitals, and the Portsmouth, NH Naval Shipyard. Failure to perform accurate periodic hydrostatic retesting of gas cylinders places lives of users at risk of injury or death due to explosion or malfunction. PHMSA assisted in this investigation.