New Pig has a small part in some creative recycling by General Motors .

GM has found a way to convert 100 miles of oil-soaked boom used in the Gulf Spill response—including PIG® Oil-Only Absorbent Booms. This will yield enough plastic for particular under-hood parts to supply the first year production of the Chevrolet Volt. It means 100,000 pounds that won’t be incinerated or landfilled.

You go, GM. Below is a good quick video overview:

Check out this new way to absorb drips and leaks at spots like valves and flanges! This is one case where we’ll gladly point out that there are strings attached, and we’ll even urge you to tie one on!

See full press release below.

New Pig Corporation has recently introduced the PIG® Oil-Only Absorbent Valve Wrap to soak up nuisance drips and leaks in valves, flanges and other oddly shaped pipe components—indoors or out.

Quick and easy to install, the PIG® Oil-Only Valve Wrap features polyethylene drawstrings on each end that hold the Wrap in place. Two sheets of highly absorbent PIG® Mat absorb and retain oils and oil-based liquids while the Wrap’s clear poly backing helps prevent absorbed liquids from leaking through. In addition, the PIG® Oil-Only Valve Wrap is UV-resistant up to one year.

Ideal for avoiding incidental, unscheduled downtime until a leak can be properly fixed, the PIG® Oil-Only Valve Wrap is available in two sizes: 20” x 32” and 8” x 24”. The Wrap’s white color makes absorbed oil easier to see; allowing inspection from a distance.

In case you haven’t been paying attention to any media whatsoever, here’s a message for you:

But only until December 5! If you want one, go now.

After that, you’ll either have to live in fear that it will never return … get by with a virtual McRib (with cool zoom feature!) … or regularly travel overseas to areas where this boneless-wonder-that-appears-to-have-bones is on the McMenu year-round.

How the poor boneless pig farmers of America survive the times that McRib isn’t offered, I have no idea.

Yes, there are boneless pig farmers. They even have an Association. Click the image below to see a video from a member.

And because I know you’re curious, here are just a few of the products you’ll find if you search “rib” at newpig.com:

Ribbed Bottom Shelf Tray

Needle-Rib™ Entrance Mat

PIG® Poly Racker

I just received the picture below from Robin, a member of the New Pig family reporting for jury duty on a rainy morning. She noted that a PIG® Chat Mat® Runner is helping citizens stay safely on their hooves!

If your facility is required to have a Facility Response Plan under SPCC regulations (40 CFR 112,) you’re probably familiar with the term “worst case scenario discharge.”

Chances are, you’ve already done a hazard evaluation and created lots of discharge scenarios, lists, and training modules   (if not – better get moving: the deadline is November 10^th… I’m sorry, but you aren’t eligible for the one-year extension.)

Because the main focus of Facility Response Plans is on “worst case” discharges, a topic that can sometimes get overlooked is the requirement to also plan for small to medium sized discharges.

According to the National Response Center, most discharges are less than 100 gallons, which makes preparing for small spills just as important as planning for “the big one.”

We’ve talked to a lot of customers who are creating, reviewing or modifying their response plans, and a common question is “how big of a spill kit do I need?”  We even recently had a call from a customer who had just gotten off the phone with EPA and was really frustrated because they wouldn’t tell her how many spill kits she needed or what products should be in them.

Could that be right?   Why couldn’t EPA tell her how many spill kits she needs?  After all, she did know her worst case scenario discharge.

Just like other portions of the SPCC rule, the EPA specifically created flexibility in this area to allow facilities to determine what will best meet their particular needs.  That’s why there was no hard, fast number of absorbent booms, bales of mat or any other “list” that the EPA could reference to answer this question.

Spill kits are just one of many tools that can be used to comply with the requirement to have “emergency response equipment” as part of your Facility Response Plan.

So, how many spill kits do you need, and where should you put them?

The first question we usually ask customers is how big of spill they can have at their facility (or in EPA terms, what is the “worst case scenario.”)  But, that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Barring natural and man-made disasters, discharges most commonly happen when oil is being transferred, and spills are usually less than “worst case” levels.   Data from the National Response Center helps to confirm this: most spills are less than 100 gallons.

Knowing this, it makes sense to put spill kits in areas where oil is transferred, and in areas where spills are likely to happen.  Receiving docks, waste collection areas, processing areas, areas where oil is pumped from drums or totes, outdoor storage areas, and fleet maintenance areas are all good areas to consider for spill kits.

Next, consider the size needed in each area.   Instead of looking at the overall “worst case” scenario, consider what is likely to happen in a given area.   For example, if you’re pumping oil from a 55-gallon drum that is stored on a containment pallet into a five gallon bucket, you could create a “worst case” scenario for that area that would involve a full-drum failure that somehow missed the containment pallet.

However, it is far more likely that a spill in this area would involve someone tipping the five gallon bucket – so a spill kit that absorbs five gallons may be an appropriate choice for that particular area (especially if other kits can be accessed and brought to the area quickly to address “worst case” issues.)

For loading docks, consider the types of containers that commonly arrive: are they five gallon pails? Drums? Totes? If the biggest container is a 55-gallon drum, it’s reasonable to plan for a 55-gallon spill on the dock.  You can follow this logic throughout a facility to address “small” spill needs.

So, back to “the big one.” If you have a 10,000 gallon, outdoor, above-ground storage tank – which spill kit should you choose?

We’ve found our large and extra large response carts to be a good fit for these scenarios, when they are coupled with other response equipment like our Drainblocker® Drain Covers, absorbent booms, vacuum trucks and other recovery equipment.    They help get the spill under control while other equipment is being readied.

Still not sure?  Give us a call.  We’d be glad to walk you through possible solutions.

Providing drum spill containment to meet SPCC’s secondary containment requirements can sometimes be frustrating because traditional spill pallets aren’t always the best solution when drums are stored outdoors.

Fortunately, your drum containment choices aren’t limited to the same old, super-tall spill pallets covered by a big, blue tarp that someone purchased a decade ago to meet another regulatory requirement.

Now, there are a lot of different options for storing drums outdoors that are more user-friendly  – and they still help you comply with a host of regulations, including SPCC (40 CFR 112)!

It’s all about controlling oil

The goal behind SPCC’s secondary containment requirement is the same as the overall goal of SPCC planning: to prevent oil from leaving your facility (or preventing a “discharge to navigable waters” as the regulation states it.)

Secondary containment for large tanks gets a lot of attention – but let’s not forget that 55 gallon drums are subject to this requirement as well; and considering that it only takes a single drop of oil hitting navigable waters for a spill to be reportable, drum spill containment isn’t something that can’t be put aside to deal with another day.

Spill pallets are an affordable, versatile way to provide drum containment and capture everything from an incidental leak to a catastrophic failure.

How to beat the freeboard

Keeping leaks and spills from drums in check when the containers are stored indoors is challenging enough, but when those same containers are stored outdoors, new challenges to drum containment issues are introduced.  Secondary containment must be sufficient to hold the spilled drum contents, plus freeboard (rain or melted snow).

If you put regular, uncovered spill pallets outdoors, they can quickly become useless in the event of a spill if rainwater has accumulated in the sump.

Roll-top pallets are the easy solution! We’ve got roll-top units available for one drum containment to a hundred.

Okay, in all fairness, I do have to admit that although it can be done, I’ve never actually seen 25 of our four-drum roll-top pallets linked together to hold a hundred drums. That would be neat!  If anyone has done that, shoot me the picture, I’d love to see it!   The most I’ve seen is five linked into a row, which still rocks, in my opinion.

Flammables or combustibles outdoors? Yep

We also have a wide selection of steel outdoor storage units for anyone who needs to store flammable or combustible petroleum products outdoors.  The units can be grounded and designed to meet a variety of fire codes and other regulations, in addition to meeting SPCC secondary containment requirements.

A leading benefit of roll-top pallets and steel outdoor storage units is that the sump is completely covered, which helps prevent water from accumulating in the sump.   Keeping drums in a covered spill pallet also keeps the container clean and helps prevent rust if the container is steel, or UV degradation if the container is poly.

These options can be a bit of an investment if you store a lot of drums outdoors, but they are a huge time saver if you’re the one who has to go test the accumulated rainwater and discharge it from each sump. They also provide more versatility than creating a permanent outdoor storage area with traditional moat-style concrete containment walls around the drum spill containment area.

Need help narrowing your choices?  Give us a call at 1-800-HOT-HOGS®. We’d be glad to help you find the perfect match!

Hey! They like PIG® Sheet!

I’m talking about the independent judges who chose the 2010 New Products of the Year for Occupational Health & Safety Magazine.This second annual contest attracted a new high of 42 products in 17 award categories.

“Our New Product of the Year contest recognizes innovation, quality, and excellence in customer service by many leading manufacturers in the safety and health industry” said OH & S Editor Jerry Laws

Yeah, baby! We’re honored.

Here’s more info about our latest award winner:

PIG® Sheet allows a user to form custom liquid control and containment devices for areas where space is awkward or limiting. The steel mesh core is coated with pliable PVC that can be reshaped without cracking to provide the moldability of metal and the corrosion resistance of plastic. PIG® Sheet can attach to magnets for connection to metal surfaces.

BUT charge me regular price—I don’t want to pay for that whole crew!

AND (if you ever get around to actually opening the hood and getting at the engine), use a PIG® Form-A-Funnel® Flexible Draining Tool so no oil drips onto my car frame and from there onto my driveway.

Still … nice job, guys!

P.S. All the Form-A-Funnel® info you need is here.

I passed a truck full of bags this morning.

(Insert your punchline here.)

These were big, heavy, completely-loaded bags.

(Go on, get it out of your system.)

A flatbed with dozens of them.

And I thought: “Are those Transformer Bags?” Full proper name: PIG® Transformer Containment Bag—one of our newer products, made for safe handling and transport of electrical transformers.

Who knew those things are filled with mineral oil that acts as coolant? (also known as transformer oil, I’ve learned). Next time you see a transformer hanging on an electrical pole, you’re looking at something a lot like a drum of oil. When they need repairing or replacement, these bags of ours come in handy: to say they’re strong and have absorbent capacity is an understatement.

Anyway, on the door of this truck that I was passing was the name of a local landscaping supply company. So instead of transformers, these bags must have held mulch or gravel or something.

Oh, well. At least you got it out of your system.