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What’s the biggest danger facing installation, construction, service and repair crews in the petroleum equipment industry?

Confined space entry? Trench collapse? Electrical shock? Working around flammable and combustible liquids?

Actually, the drive to the jobsite often is the most dangerous part of the day. With the prevalence of mobile phones, multitasking, drive-thru fast food and complicated vehicle controls, distracted driving incidents are a constant threat. In a millisecond, inattention can lead to catastrophe.

That’s why PEI is sponsoring a free, one-hour webinar: “How to Stop Distracted Driving: Strategies to Protect Your Business, Employees and Family.” We hope as many PEI members as possible will join in this potentially life saving discussion at noon Central, Wednesday, July 24.

Think we are overstating the dangers of distracted driving? Consider just two National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics:

• 3,166 people died in U.S. crashes involving distracted driving during 2017.
• Distracted driving fatalities represented 9% of all driving deaths.

And here’s one more telling fact: According to AAA, distraction is responsible for more than 58% of teen crashes.

Joel Feldman, presenter for the PEI webinar, has been a successful practicing attorney for more than 35 years. Since 2009, he also has been working to reduce distracted driving injuries and deaths. That was the year his 21-year-old daughter Casey was killed by a distracted driver. Casey, a senior at Fordham University, was crossing the street during daylight at a 4-way stop. The driver who killed her had looked away from the road while reaching for an object in his vehicle.

After Casey’s death, Feldman co-founded the Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation; launched www.enddd.org, an anti-distracted driving website; earned a master’s degree in counseling; and began speaking about how to end distracted driving. To date, Feldman has spoken to more than 700 corporations, construction companies, schools and other groups. And now, he’s bringing his experience and expertise to PEI.

EPA Compliance Advisory

Co-Optima Selects Promising Blendstocks

PEI Foundation Scholarships

Respond to this Newsletter

by e-mail to the editor, Rick Long at rlong@pei.org

or join the discussion in the Petroleum Equipment Forums

During the webinar, you’ll learn what distracted driving is, who is most at risk and what you can do to protect yourself, your employees and others.

Register today. Make this event a priority. And encourage your service technicians and other drivers to participate, as well. The one-hour investment will help you build a safe driving culture in your organization.

EPA ISSUES COMPLIANCE ADVISORY
As a follow-up to its May 30 rule authorizing the year-round sale of E15 (see June 19, 2019 TL), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a June 24 compliance advisory to remind owners and operators of their compatibility requirements.

As detailed in the advisory, marketers wishing to sell fuel containing more than 10% ethanol or 20% biodiesel must demonstrate compatibility of the following underground storage tank (UST) system components:

• the tank;
• piping carrying product from the tank;
• piping containment sumps entered by the piping;
• pumping equipment, including the submersible pump or suction pump;
• release detection equipment, including automatic tank gauge (ATG) probes, sump sensors and line leak detectors;
• spill prevention equipment, such as spill buckets;
• overfill equipment, including ball float valves or flapper valves.

PEI’s UST Component Compatibility Library provides a continually updated list of manufacturer letters affirming the compatibility of specific products with the higher-level ethanol and biodiesel blends.

CO-OPTIMA IDENTIFIES FUEL-EFFICIENT BLENDSTOCKS
After three years of evaluating hundreds of fuels, the Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines initiative (Co-Optima) identified six blendstocks with the greatest potential for boosting efficiency in high-compression engines: di-isobutylene, ethanol, fusel alcohol blend, isobutanol, isopropanol and n-propanol.

Co-Optima is a joint project of the U.S. Department of Energy, nine national laboratories, major research universities and private business.

"This objective, scientific research is giving industry the knowledge and tools to more rapidly improve today’s combustion engines and petroleum-based fuels, while also blazing a trail for more revolutionary long-term changes in component design and fuel formulas," said project lead John Farrell of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Details on the testing and conclusions are in Co-Optima’s recently released FY 18 in Review.

PEI FOUNDATION AWARDS CHARLES D. KEMP SCHOLARSHIPS
Five outstanding students won $1,000 Charles D. Kemp Scholarships for the 2019-2020 academic year. Scholarship recipients are: Jacob Fagerstrom, son of William Fagerstrom, of The Oscar W. Larson Co.; Alexander Wichmann, son of Kevin Wichmann, of McKinney Petroleum Equipment; Caleb Grothoff, son of Scott Grothoff, of NOV Fiberglass Systems; Kylie Rydjord, daughter of Andrew Neelis, of R.W. Mercer Co.; and Edward R. Kammerer, son of Edward J. Kammerer, of OPW Fueling Components.

The Kemp scholarships, awarded by the PEI Foundation, recognize deserving dependents of full-time PEI member company employees.

FROM THE STATES
Arizona. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) requests comments on its proposed UST rules, which were published June 21. ADEQ also will hold a July 29 public hearing on the proposed rules.
Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission finalized permanent rule documents for Chapter 15, Fuel Inspection; Chapter 16, Antifreeze; Chapter 25, Underground Storage Tanks; Chapter 26, Aboveground Storage Tanks; Chapter 27, Indemnity Fund; and Chapter 29, Corrective Action of Petroleum Storage Tank Releases. The new rules will be published July 15 and take effect Aug. 1.
Utah. Utah will implement a voluntary 1.5 cent per mile road usage charge on electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids in 2020. The charge will be in lieu of a $90 per vehicle flat fee. The state received a $1.25 million federal grant to study the results of the program over five years.
Vermont. Gov. Phil Scott signed legislation to provide up to $2,500 to purchasers of EVs with a list price of $40,000 or less. According to EQ International, the income-based incentives will support approximately 400 EV sales, but the state needs at least 90,000 EVs by 2024 to meet its clean energy goals.
Virginia. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality submitted a consent order to fine a Pilot Travel Center in Raphine nearly $104,000 for numerous violations connected with a May 2018 diesel leak.

PEI MEMBER NEWS
American Petroleum Equipment & Construction opened a new branch in Butler, New Jersey, and hired Rick Fitzgerald Sr. as operations manager for its New Jersey pump and tank services.
Francis Smith & Sons named Eddie Ware president of the company. Craig Smith, the former president, will step back from day-to-day operations but remain CEO and chairman of the board of directors.
Liquidynamics added Western States Marketing to its roster of independent sales representatives. Western States Marketing sells to automotive aftermarket and industrial manufacturing companies in the western U.S. and Canada.
Petro Service Ltd. announced its intent to purchase K.W. Petroleum Services Ltd. The acquisition of the Saskatoon-based service provider is Petro Service’s third in western Canada. The transaction is expected to close by July 31.

DEATHS
Gigi De Poli, 83, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, died June 18. A 55-year industry veteran, De Poli was owner and president of ARPEC, an equipment distribution company operating in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Just weeks before his passing, he participated in ARPEC’s 100th anniversary celebration. Survivors include sons Frank and Lawrence and a grandson Matias, all of whom are active in the industry; another son Daniel; seven other grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS
Ohio maintenance company. Mozika Inc., 11722 Bellaire Road, Cleveland, OH 44145, applied for service and construction division membership. Sam Abdallah is partner in the firm, which was established in 2006. Mozika Inc. is a full-service petroleum maintenance and repair company that installs UST equipment, spill buckets, manholes, containments, submersible turbine pumps and leak detection equipment. Sponsored for PEI membership by Thomas Brown, National Petroleum Equipment, Attalla, Alabama.
www.mozikainc.com

Washington service company. Ultra Tank Services Inc., P.O. Box 30096, Bellingham, Washington 98228, applied for service and construction division membership. Thomas Pulver is vice president of the firm, which was established in 1993. Ultra Tank Services Inc. provides tank services in northwestern Washington state. Sponsored for PEI membership by Jessica Bartlett, Ace Tank & Fueling Equipment, Seatac, Washington.
www.ultratankservices.com

Puerto Rican distributor. Motopac Corp., Road 5 Km. 5.5 Marginal - Luchetti Industrial Park, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00961, applied for distributor division membership. Fernando Rodriguez is president of the company, which was established in 2012. Motopac Corp. is a distributor of lubricants, reels, compressors, pumps, car wash equipment and related supplies. Sponsored for PEI membership by Jennifer Stevens, Tuthill Transfer Systems, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
www.motopac.com

Florida manufacturer. UltraTech International Inc., 11542 Davis Creek Court, Jacksonville, Florida 32256, applied for manufacturer division membership. Matthew Shaw is marketing director for the company, which was established in 1993. UltraTech International Inc. manufactures secondary spill containment storage, outdoor drum storage, spill response products and facility protection products, which are sold primarily through distributors. Sponsored for PEI membership by Mike Bakken, Valley Petroleum Equipment Inc., Grand Forks, North Dakota.
www.spillcontainment.com

ADMITTED TO PEI

• Don’s Maintenance Service, Greeley, Colorado (service and construction)
• Bannon Engineering, Randolph, Vermont (affiliate)
• Abdulrahman al-Daihani, Kuwait National Petroleum Company, Andlous, Kuwait (operations and engineering)
• Adam Sansoucy, Cumberland Farms, Westborough, Massachusetts (operations and engineering)

© 2019
Petroleum Equipment Institute
P. O. Box 2380
Tulsa, OK 74101-2380

The TulsaLetter (ISSN 0193-9467) is published two or three times each month by the Petroleum Equipment Institute. Richard C. Long, Editor. Opinions expressed are the opinions of the Editor. Basic circulation confined to PEI members.