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Hazardous Materials
Click here to place an order for this database

Source Department of Transportation
Size 933 MB (all tables)
Dates Covered 1970 - July 2007
Record Count 24,666 (main table 2005-2006)
 402,079 (main table 1970 - 2004)
How Available Entire United States, all years
Cost:
  • 50-200 market or circulation below 50,000: $75
  • 26-50 market or circulation 50,000-100,000: $150
  • Top 25 market or circulation over 100,000: $190

    		•



    About the Data:
    The HAZMAT database contains the incident reports of unintentional releases of hazardous materials for all modes of transportation (air, highway, railway, and water). The Hazardous Materials Incident Report Subsystem is maintained by the Department of Transportation.

    In 2005, the form to report incidents (Report 58000.1) was changed, along with the database recording the incidents. The number of tables was increased from three to eight, and many of the codes were replaced with text descriptors.

    Related Resources

    COVERING POLLUTION:
    This primer by IRE in cooperation with SEJ gives an overview of useful resources reporters can use for local investigations into environmental pollution. More beat books are available from the IRE Resource Center.


    DOT Truck Accidents:A database of accidents on U.S. roads involving a commercial vehicle weighing more than 10,000 pounds, including semi-tractor trailers, buses. The data for 1988-1999 also has information about hazardous material carriers.


    DOT Truck Census:This U.S. Department of Transportation database contains records on each company that has commercial interstate vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds.


    DOT Truck Inspections:The Truck Inspections database contains data from state and federal truck inspections involving motor carriers as well as shippers and transporters of hazardous materials operating in the United States.


    Toxics Release Inventory:The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) consists of information about on- and off-site releases of chemicals and other waste management activities reported annually by industries, including federal facilities.
    Table Layouts and Sample Data:

  • Hazardous Containers: This has information regarding the containers that were involved, including action contributing to failure, how packages failed, what failed. (Note: Archival years)
    		• Hazcon.dbf
    Hazcon.xls
  • Hazardous Materials: This is the main table for data between 1970-2004. It contains all of the basic information on the incident, including location; carrier/shipper/consignee names and addresses; number of fatalities and injuries; amount and type of hazardous material released; and consequences. (Note: Archival years)
    		• Hazmat.dbf
    Hazmat.xls
  • IACTION: A table with text explanations of the action taken to correct the problem.
    		• iaction.dbf
    iaction.xls
  • IEVENT: This table contains a text descriptor of the event that led to the release of hazardous materials.
    		• ievent.dbf
    ievent.xls
  • IREPORT: This is the main table, with 24,666 records from Jan. 1, 2005, to July 20, 2007. It contains all basic information on the incident including: location; carrier/shipper/consignee names and addresses, etc; number of fatalities and injuries; amount and type of hazardous material released; consequences; etc.
    		• ireport.dbf
    ireport.xls
  • MATERIAL: Detailed information about the hazardous material released, including the type and amount of material, and whether it was declared.
    		• material.dbf
    material.xls
  • PACKAGE: Detailed information about the package, including the destination, and package type.
    		• package.dbf
    package.xls
  • PKGFAIL: Codes that describe the how, what, and where of the package failure.
    		• pkgfail.dbf
    pkgfail.xls
  • PKGLAYR: Detailed information about a package layer, including shell thickness, manufacturer, layer type, etc.
    		• pkglayer.dbf
    pkglayer.xls
  • Remarks: This is a remarks table. (Note: Archival years)
    		• Hazrmk.dbf
    Hazrmk.xls
  • SHIPPER: Additional information about the shipper.
    		• shipper.dbf
    shipper.xls
    Instructions on opening DBF files in Access


    What you can do: This is a popular database and is perfect for tracking events such as chemical spills on highways, railways and air transport. Among other things, the data allows reporters to determine which hazardous material carriers are having the most accidents and in which states. Chemicals most often released and exact accident details are also recorded. The report number field has unique case numbers, making it possible to join different databases for more in-depth investigations.

    STORIES AND TIPSHEETS FROM THE IRE RESOURCE CENTER:
    To order copies one or more of following stories call the IRE RESOURCE CENTER at 573-882-3364 and give them the FILE NUMBER or TIP SHEET NUMBER. The cost is 15 cents per page for IRE members.

    Story Number: 15476
    The Federal Aviation Administration has failed to control hazardous materials violations by air carriers. Hazardous cargo often travels aboard commercial as well as cargo carriers.

    Story Number: 8795
    Los Angeles Times conducts a data-base study of 68,000 hazardous materials incidents from around the United States, and finds the number has risen 37 percent from 1982 to 1991; injuries to people as a result of truck spills rose 374 percent, and almost all of the deaths--106 out of 108--involved tanker trucks; gasoline, ammonia and sulfuric acid are the most dangerous liquids transported; gives account of a railway accident that dumped weed killer into the Sacramento River, killing virtually every organism along the river for miles; gives account of the death of a whole family as a result of a gasoline truck accident, Sept. 20, 1992.

    Story Number: 19612
    "A train derailment and fatal chemical spill on Jan. 18, 2002, in Minot, N.D., exposed the vulnerability of our nation's transportation of common but hazardous agricultural chemical," the Forum reports. The story depict the disaster -- known as the largest spill of anhydrous ammonia, a farm fertilizer -- in the world but also investigates its causes. The main findings are that pre-1989 railroad tanker cars are susceptible to puncturing in accidents in cold weather; tracks often contain a number of defects; and rescue workers and hospitals are ill-prepared for disasters.

    Story Number: 22548
    The investigation showed that Inland Southern California faces increasing risk of toxic spills from freight trains carrying chlorine, anhydrous ammonia and other deadly chemicals. The authors found a public unaware of the risk, local authorities unprepared and an industry with a questionable safety record.

    Story Number: 19691
    A Press-Enterprise series showing how Riverside County, Calif. government fostered and subsidized polluting industries in a community that already had some of the worst air pollution in the nation, which was found to be hurting the health of the community's children.

    Tipsheet Number: 1290
    Fallik lists Web sites for researching transportation including crash and accident data, trucking, hazardous materials, airlines, railroads, school bus safety and FAA.