In the Bahamas, a small herd of pigs have a beach mostly to themselves.

Actually, as much swimming as they do, this would be called a SCHOOL of pigs.

Ah, the surf, the breeze, and maybe a side business supplying Urn Sand …

If I ever stop making appearances for New Pig, you’ll know where I’ve gone.

A new campaign hopes to bring 12,000 rain gardens to the Puget Sound area by 2016. And, as of this morning, 615 have already been established!

Although this effort is primarily aimed at homeowners and residential areas that aren’t traditionally governed under EPA’s Stormwater Regulations in the same way that industry is regulated; the coordinators of this program say that if it is successful, it will help prevent about 160 million gallons of polluted stormwater runoff from entering storm drains each year. (Remember that sediment is a form of pollution, so residential rooftops, driveways and other hard surfaces can all be sources.)

For more information on this program, visit one of the websites shown below.

http://www.12000raingardens.org/

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/19582-1

And, if you’re looking for creative solutions to help improve your facility’s Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, (SWPPP) visit our website or give us a call at 1-800-HOT-HOGS® (468-4647). We’ve got products to block drains, filter runoff and discharge, capture fluids for treatment and protect materials stored outdoors.

New Pigger Beth Powell will present at the American Institute of Professional Geologists Marcellus Shale Conference April 13 and 14, 2011 in Pittsburgh, PA.

“This is a chance to review regulatory schemes and industry best practices that impact the drilling and hydrofracturing processes,” Beth says. “We have the knowledge, experience and products to help the operators who manage liquids and have to deal with secondary containment problems and state regulations.”

Click here to see the full Conference program (this opens a PDF).

Visit us online to see our wide range of PIG® Products that are of particular interest to shale gas operations.

Click here to see an informative recent Time magazine cover story about shale gas.

Secondary containment is at the heart of many SPCC requirements, and that makes sense, because when spill containment systems are in place, oil spills are less likely to leave a facility, triggering spill reporting requirements.

Providing fuel containment for tanks and drums that don’t really move too often is one thing – but providing secondary containment for things that are always on the go can be a bit more frustrating.

Many facilities have found portable containment pools to be a fast, affordable solution.    They can be set up just about anywhere spill containment is needed; stand up to repeated uses; and can be sized to meet nearly any secondary containment need.

One of the main applications that we see our Collapse-A-Tainer® Systems being used for these days is for providing fuel containment during offloading.   If a hose breaks, a coupling fails, or a tank bursts, everything is contained.    And, for faculties that may only receive bulk oil deliveries once a week or once a month, these secondary containment units can be folded up and stored out of the way until they’re needed again.

For facilities that need something a little more portable, pop-up-pools are another popular spill containment option.   Although they aren’t large enough to contain a catastrophic tank failure, pop-up pools are idea for “likely” failure scenarios, such as coupling failures or hose leaks.     If a receiving area already has secondary containment, these pools can help keep small spills contained so that clean up is faster and easier.

Whether you need a small pool to contain 30 gallons, or one large enough to contain 10,000 gallons, portable pools may be the answer!

Our nation recently marked the centennial of the tragic Triangle Waist Factory Fire that claimed the lives of 146 workers on March 25, 1911. Many of the victims, ranging in age from 14 to 48, were killed by the smoke and flames. Others jumped from the building to avoid being consumed by the fire.

Fortunately, this incident and others like it called many to action, and drew attention to the need to protect America’s workers. The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) was formed on October 14, 1911 as a result of the incident. A handful of unions also used this tragedy to garner support for their organizations and push their plight for better working conditions.

Fire companies started looking at fire prevention opportunities in addition to fire fighting strategies. Building codes were revised, and new ones were developed. To this day, this tragedy is still studied by the fire service community and hard lessons are still learned from it.

In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created. With the newly created safety regulations came the tooth to enforce them. As we look at workplace safety conditions now that are world apart from the pictures painted 100 years ago, members of the safety community know that there is always room for improvement.

Violations to the hazard communication standard are always in “OSHA’s Top Five.”

Slips, trips and falls are still the number one cause of injury and lost work time.

Exit routes are still deemed to be insufficient or unsuitable.

The difference now is that we have the tools and the knowledge to make workplaces safer. We also have the tragedies of the past as vivid reminders of what can happen when we take shortcuts or ignore these duties.

Need help selecting safety products?    Give us a call.   Helping you keep your workplace cleaner and safer is our top priority.

Woo Hoo!

Plant Engineering magazine has announced the Product of the Year 2011 Winners, and New Pig was named and named and named again. One Gold and two Bronze!!

THOINKS to everyone who makes this possible! The list of product awards keeps growing, and the real winners are customers who keep getting new ways to help keep their workplaces clean and safe!

See below for details on the award winners.

Maintenance Tools and Equipment

Gold Award: PIG® Oily Water Filter Bucket

The PIG® Oily Water Filter Bucket is an absorbent-filled bucket that can be used indoors or outdoors to capture up to five gallons of hydrocarbons from collected water/oil mixture and allows filtered water to pass through. Seven alternating layers of PIG® Oil-Only Mat Pads and PIG® Oil-Only Pillows help to disperse collected liquids for uniform saturation and fewer change outs. The hose fitting on the top of the container lid accepts 3/4″ drainage hoses, while the 3/4” connection on the bottom of the container accepts a self bailer, drain plug, another drainage hose, or it can be used as a free-flowing drain.

Fluid Handling

Bronze Award: PIG® Drum Latching Lid

The PIG® Latching Drum Lid with FM-approved plugs converts a 55-gallon steel drum into a safe storage container for oil-or solvent-soaked materials. This lid easily attaches to new or reconditioned drums and features FM-approved plugs, making it ideal for use with flammable or combustible solids. The latching lid satisfies NFPA 30 venting requirements. And, the latching lid helps to comply with 40 CFR 262.34(c) for Satellite Accumulation and 40 CFR 264.1086(c)(1)(ii) to prevent VOC emissions and 40 CFR 264.173 requiring haz-waste containers to be closed.

Maintenance Products

Bronze Award: PIG® Absorbent Valve Wrap

The PIG® Absorbent Valve Wrap is designed to soak up nuisance leaks in valves, flanges and other oddly-shaped pipe components. Cinch-able straps and a sewn-in double stack of oil-only mat make it easy to catch drips anywhere – indoors or outdoors, and it’s UV-resistant for up to 12 months. Two sheets of highly absorbent 100% polypropylene PIG® Oil-Only Mat soak up and retain oils and oil-based liquids, including lubricants and fuels, without absorbing water, and the non-permeable clear poly back helps prevent pollution by keeping absorbed liquids from leaking though.

When fuel containment is needed at your facility, concrete spill containment berms are probably one of the first things that come to mind – along with the time and expense to have them installed.

Often, containment berms are made of concrete or earthen materials, and are part of an engineered containment design for the fuel containment area.   While there’s nothing wrong with these systems, in fact, they are a nice solution; concrete spill berms don’t always allow full access to tanks or storage areas, they are usually expensive, and they are hard to remove if the facility design or containment needs change.

If your facility needs fuel containment solutions to satisfy the active secondary containment requirements of SPCC planning, flexible spill containment berms like our Build-A-Berm® Barrier are a solution worth considering.   They are more affordable than concrete berms, they allow easier access to fuel containment areas, and they can be easily moved if your needs change.

Our Build-A-Berm® spill berms are easy to install, and are available in 1.5”, 2”, 4” and 6” heights.  Just seal them to the ground with sealant, and connect the top sections and corners with vinyl cement and you can create a spill containment berm just about anywhere – and in far less time than it will take an engineering firm to give you the first draft of their design.

Because Build-A-Berm® containment berms have a foam core, they remain flexible, allowing carts, forklifts and delivery trucks to pass over them easily without the need for ramps, and without the big bump.

A heavy-duty version of the 2” Build-A-Berm® Barrier is also available for heavy traffic areas. We even offer a draining plug to facilitate draining of the fuel containment area (after you’ve sampled the collected rainwater or snowmelt, of course.)

For facilities that only need passive secondary containment, consider our polyurethane spill berms.    Our Spillblocker® Dikes can be put down proactively before routine fuel deliveries, or deployed quickly in the event of a spill.    These spill containment berms are super-flexible to channel and contain liquids just about anywhere.   They create an instantaneous firm seal on smooth surfaces to keep spills contained and out of sensitive areas like storm drains.

So whether you need active or passive containment berms, give us a call.  Chances are we have an affordable alternative to concrete.

I have to share this article titled “Innovative Leak Controls Minimize Downtime.” The innovative leak controls came from New Piggers collaborating with customers.

The article describes use of our PIG® Oil-Only Absorbent Valve Wraps at utility substations, where oily leaks and drips from transformers are common. The Valve Wraps capture liquids right at the leak point, which helps make maintenance much more efficient.

You’ll read how user suggestions helped lead to valuable features such as the drawstrings on this model of the PIG® Oil-Only Absorbent Valve Wrap.

And the author says this about another product tested in the field, our PIG® Drive-Over LEAKBLOCKER™ Dike: so easy to use, [we] didn’t need to offer any formal training on the use of the products and their applications.

Now THAT is what we mean when we say New Pig is Inventing For You.

P.S. Here’s the post where we first announced the PIG® Oil-Only Absorbent Valve Wraps.

A recent profile of New Pig plays up how we hit the funny bone, but it includes the important point that comedy can only take you so far in our business. Here’s one of the great quotes from Executive VP (and occasional blogger) Doug Hershey:

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we always knew we had to have high quality. If we were funny and had bad products or lousy service, it wouldn’t work.”

Right on, Hersh! A great example of our serious side is our new web page The Stories Behind the Inventions, which highlights the rigorous development behind innovations such as our non-absorbent dikes and drain covers, our lids and funnels, and our containment bags and valve wraps.

Having said that all that … also check out this website dedicated to the proposition that everything should taste like bacon!

Who is the only car-talk host on commercial radio named to the “Talkers 250,” the list of the top 250 talk-show hosts in the U.S.?

Bobby Likis!

And which two New Piggers just appeared on his “Car Clinic” show?

Dan Silver and Andy James!

Click here to hear them discuss General Motor’s recycling of PIG® Oil-Only Absorbent Booms (mentioned in our previous post) as well as the PIG® Form-A-Funnel® Flexible Draining Tool and PIG® Absorbent Mat, available at vehicle service suppliers nationwide.