New transport rules threaten fireworks fizzle; Bangor OK

WASHINGTON – Some small towns across America could be without fireworks this Fourth of July if federal agencies can’t settle on new homeland security restrictions on shipments by train. Plans for a show in Bangor, Maine, however, appear to be right on track.

“Bangor is not in jeopardy one bit,” said Rick Briggs, president and co-owner of Blue Hill Pyrotechnics, which puts on Bangor’s display. “In fact, it’s going to be the largest show in Bangor’s history.”

The local company does not rely on subcontractors or train services to transport its fireworks. Instead, they have their own trucks and drivers and went through the process of becoming listed and recognized by the Department of Transportation as an approved hauler for financial reasons a couple of years ago. It is very expensive to haul explosives due to the potential hazards of the cargo, Briggs said.

“If we weren’t trained and able to haul things ourselves, we would be in trouble,” Briggs said Friday. All of the company’s drivers have successfully completed the mandated background check in order to comply with the new standards.

Other fireworks providers around the country weren’t as prepared for the current security climate.

“It’s getting stupid. Do they really think a terrorist will use a firecracker to blow up a building?” said Don Lantis of North Sioux City, S.D., whose family-owned pyrotechnics company puts on 300 to 400 shows around the country every Independence Day.

Because of uncertainty over how to comply with the government’s anti-terror laws, railways have refused to handle fireworks since early this year, cutting off the main method of transport for shipments arriving at West Coast ports from China and other Asian countries. On May 5, the government issued regulations on fireworks transport by air, water and truck but has yet to decide on new guidelines for trains.

On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., wrote the secretaries of Justice, Transportation and Homeland Security, urging them to quickly come up with interim rules to comply with last year’s passage of the Safe Explosives Act.

“The lack of action on rail transport threatens to prevent the delivery of fireworks for the Fourth of July in many areas of the country,” he said.

“We are working diligently to get a rail explosives notice,” said Blain Rethmeier, a spokesman for the Justice Department. He said the effort still was in the draft stage awaiting agreement by the involved agencies.

Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, said the biggest worry is that companies putting on fireworks shows, while able to satisfy their larger customers, will lack the supplies to carry out performances in smaller communities.

“It’s been crippling for the fireworks industry,” she said. “The concern is that we are way behind in getting products” because of backlogs at the ports.

She said her association, which represents some 260 pyrotechnics companies, has found only two truck lines willing to carry their products because of the increased security and insurance costs. Trains actually are the safest and most secure way of moving fireworks, she said.

The industry is close-knit, she said, and better-situated companies will help their competitors with supply shortages.

But “it’s now or never,” she said of the need for new rail transport rules before Independence Day. “We are most renowned for lighting up the skies to show the country’s greatness. We aren’t associated with terrorism.”

Lantis, whose Lantis Fireworks company has been in business since 1945, said it will cost his firm an extra $4,000, more than double current rates, to move a shipment of fireworks from the West Coast by truck rather than train.

He said his company of about 40 employees will have to pay $5 million this year in insurance. In the past, he said, the company’s Salt Lake City branch hired “shooters” from Australia because of their skills, but prohibitions on foreigners will make that impossible this year.

“It’s foolish,” he said. “Fireworks don’t do anything, they make colors.”

Over the next three weeks, Blue Hill Pyrotechnics will make four or five trips to pick up fireworks out of state. The first truck will leave for northern Michigan on Monday night.

“If our suppliers can get their supply to their locations, then we’re not going to have any trouble getting it to Maine,” Briggs said. “You’re going to see quite a show on the Fourth.”