Industry News - 2020 - Page 18 of 51 | Supply Post - Canada's #1 Heavy Construction Equipment & Commercial Truck Newspaper

BC Mining And Exploration Community Raise $100,000 For Food Banks BC

Association for Mineral Exploration (AME), in partnership with Integra Resources, is proud to announce a $100,000.00 donation on behalf of the British Columbia mining and exploration community to Food Banks BC. These funds will provide targeted relief to those living in rural, remote and Indigenous communities facing food security challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched in early June, over 50 donations (individual and corporate) were received as part of the #MiningFeedsBC Food Bank challenge, where participants were called on to share their favourite mining meal memory on social media and make a donation to Food Banks BC. A big thank you to Wheaton Precious Metals for their $50,000.00 donation as well as a personal donation by Wheaton’s President & CEO, Randy Smallwood.
“It is especially important during these challenging times that businesses come together to help those most in need. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, more families and individuals are facing financial hardship resulting in an even greater demand for basic needs such as food security. We are proud to do our part by accepting the #MiningFeedsBC Food Bank challenge and grateful for the overwhelming support for this cause by the mining and exploration industry. We also greatly commend the volunteers and employees at Food Banks BC for their dedication to supporting our communities.”
The Association for Mineral Exploration’s (AME) President and CEO, Kendra Johnston, noted, “Many of the communities supported by Food Banks BC are located close to our members’ exploration projects or mine sites. We are proud to see our members step-up to support a great cause and help those who are in need. When combined with essential supplies and PPE donations, as well as independent financial donations from various companies made earlier this year during the pandemic, our industry has made a significant effort to help our fellow British Columbians in what are challenging times for many. We are thankful to our members, corporate partners and donors for making a difference and making this possible.”
George Salamis, President & CEO, Integra Resources, commented, “During this time of immense challenge, we have an even more profound role to play to continue supporting our local communities and our country – both near our operations in Idaho and where we live, right here in BC. Mining and exploration has always been a resilient business. Seeing our industry be welcomed neighbours, offering a helping hand and working to build capacity and reduce burdens, is really powerful and inspiring.”
Executive Director, Dan Huang-Taylor Food Banks BC, said, “The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are being felt even more deeply among the tens of thousands of families and individuals who regularly turn to BC Food Banks for much needed support. And since the start of the COVID-19 emergency, more and more people have turned to food banks for help. Lineups for food are continuing to grow and resources are stretched even further under the increasing levels of demand across our province. Thanks to this significant donation from the BC mining and exploration community through the #MiningFeedsBC food bank challenge, we can provide much needed resources to BC Food Banks as they continue to support their communities and tackle hunger across our province.”

About AME
AME is the lead association for the mineral exploration and development industry based in British Columbia. Established in 1912, AME represents, advocates and promotes the interests of almost 5,000 members who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in B.C. and globally. AME encourages a safe, economically strong and environmentally responsible industry by providing clear initiatives, policies, events and tools to support its membership in delivering responsible projects that advance reconciliation and provide benefit to all British Columbians.

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Aug 10, 2020 - 5 years ago

Clear Rules Advance Cleanup Of Oil And Gas Wells

Alberta’s government is taking long overdue action to accelerate the responsible reclamation of oil and gas sites, ensuring a cleaner environment for current and future generations.
A new framework to manage oil and gas liabilities – which includes a series of mechanisms and requirements to improve and expedite reclamation efforts – will enable industry to better manage the clean up of oil and gas wells, pipelines and facilities at every step of the process, from exploration and licensing, through operations, reclamation and post-closure.
Setting clear expectations throughout the life cycle of oil and gas projects will provide certainty to industry and landowners, who will now have a defined opportunity to ensure the timely cleanup of sites on their property. Taken together, the new framework will shrink the inventory of inactive and orphaned wells across the province, ensure more timely restoration of land to its original state, and protect future generations from experiencing a backlog of sites needing cleanup.
“Alberta has a world-class oil and gas sector that takes responsible resource development seriously. This new approach will further ensure everyone who benefits from development also addresses their ongoing reclamation responsibility in a way that is fair and achievable. By clarifying the rules and improving the process, industry can confidently make long-term investment decisions, which will help the province’s recovery efforts and create jobs, putting thousands of Albertans and Canadians back to work,” said Sonya Savage, Minister of Energy.
“I’m pleased this government is taking action where governments in the past have failed to do so. Farmers and other private landowners deserve a voice in the reclamation process, to ensure industry brings their land back towards its original condition – enhancing safety and their ability to repurpose their land. This is a positive step forward on an issue that is important to many Albertans,” quoted Keith Wilson, QC, property rights lawyer.
“The Metis Settlements have long been advocates for responsible resource development. That means ensuring the work of ‘cleaning up’ is central to those operations. I am pleased to hear that Alberta will be taking the necessary steps to ensure that we not only practise responsible resource development but responsible reclamation. This work is critical to ensure our beautiful lands remain for future generations,” stated Roechelle Gaudet, vice-president, Metis Settlements General Council.
The new framework, which will be implemented over the coming months:
•   Upholds the polluter-pay principle, ensuring that industry is responsible for cleanup costs in a way that is fair and manageable.
•   Puts an improved system in place to assess the capabilities of oil and gas operators to meet their regulatory liabilities obligations, prior to receiving regulatory approvals.
•   Provides practical guidance and proactive support for struggling operators, helping them to manage and maximize their assets, and maintain their operations. Doing so will protect Albertans from the financial and environmental burden of more inactive or orphaned sites – while ensuring operators meet their environmental responsibilities.
•   Establishes five-year rolling spending targets for reclamation that every active site operator must meet. This initiative includes the AER’s area-based closure program, through which companies work together to share the cost of cleaning up multiple sites in an area.
•   Establishes a formal opt-in mechanism for landowners to nominate sites for cleanup. These sites must then be reviewed by the regulator, with operators responsible for justifying why a site should not be immediately brought through closure stages.
•   Implements a process to address legacy and post-closure sites – or sites that were abandoned, remediated or reclaimed before current standards were put in place, and sites that have received reclamation certificates and the operator’s liability period has lapsed. A panel will be established to consider how to address this gap, bringing these sites up-to-date with the current environmental requirements.
The growing inventory of orphaned and inactive wells is an issue across North America and the world, exacerbated in recent years by low commodity prices and the resulting economic downturn. Alberta’s current approach to govern the cleanup of these wells was put in place decades ago, when the oil and gas industry was largely focused on growing production and new infrastructure. As the province’s oil and gas sector has matured, a new approach is required to more actively manage reclamation of sites throughout their life cycle. This means working on the existing sites that require cleanup and keeping new sites from joining the inactive and orphan inventories in the future.
“From drilling through reclamation, it’s important that industry meets its obligations. Alberta’s Liability Management Framework will ensure oil and gas sites are cleaned up faster, reinforcing Alberta’s reputation as a leader in responsible energy development. The new framework provides clarity and certainty, which will help spur activity in the energy sector and put Albertans back to work when and where jobs are needed the most,” said Jason Nixon, Minister of Environment and Parks.
“The new Alberta Liability Management Framework provides strong protections for Alberta to enhance the responsible reclamation of oil and gas sites, while ensuring responsible energy development can continue to produce high-paying jobs for Alberta workers and their families. This is an innovative and modern approach to ensure continued focus by companies on their responsibilities to local communities,” stated Tristan Goodman, president, The Explorers and Producers Association of Canada.
“PSAC welcomes the introduction of Alberta’s new Liability Management Framework that will provide certainty to industry and investors while easing landowner and public concerns of a growing inventory. The new framework will also provide the oilfield services sector that PSAC represents with a predictable and regular stream of closure activity, sustaining jobs and retaining key skills and expertise. PSAC has long advocated for mechanisms for closure activity of orphan and inactive sites to create jobs while providing positive environmental outcomes that demonstrate our responsible resource development. Alberta’s new framework will uphold that trustworthy reputation,” quoted Elizabeth Aquin, president and CEO, Petroleum Services Association of Canada.

Quick facts:
•   Under the Liability Management Framework, the Alberta government sets the policy direction and provides oversight, while the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is responsible for administration – including monitoring progress, working with industry, and enforcement.
•   As of July 2020, 456,729 licences have been issued to drill oil and gas wells in Alberta since the early 1900s. Currently, 96,969 wells are inactive, 70,785 are abandoned, 88,851 are reclamation certified, and 36,773 are reclamation exempt. Of the remaining wells, 162,530 are active and 821 have been drilled but are not producing.
o   Reclamation exempt sites are those that were reclaimed before the legal requirement for reclamation certificates came into effect.
o   Abandoned sites are those that have been permanently plugged, cut and capped and left in a safe and secure condition, with surface reclamation work required before the closure process is completed and reclamation certificates may be issued.
•   The framework includes the expanded role of the Orphan Well Association set out in The Liabilities Management Statutes Amendment Act, which came into effect June 15, 2020, enabling the association to better manage and accelerate the cleanup of wells, infrastructure and pipelines that do not have a responsible owner.

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Aug 10, 2020 - 5 years ago

Woman-Owned Construction Company Brex Enterprises Setting New Standards

Alicia Brentzel, Brex EnterprisesBased in Irwin, PA – some 22 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Brex Enterprises provides pipeline maintenance and services; earthwork and development; trucking and hauling; and right-of-way services. A family business with a history of generations of construction experience, it operates mainly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and New York.
Founded in 2012 as Brentzel Excavation LLC, the company, attributes its growth and success to building upon a solid foundation comprised of five essential components, says Alicia Brentzel, president and co-owner with husband Andrew (A.J.).
The company was begun when A.J. – who had been working for a family member doing excavation – decided to form his own excavation business. Slowly, the company moved into also doing pipeline work for the oil and gas industry. In 2014, Brentzel Excavation LLC changed its name to a DBA (Doing Business As): Brex Enterprises. ‘Br’ for Brentzel and ‘ex’ for excavation.
At the beginning of 2019, Brex Enterprises earned a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). It is a private third-party that certifies women-owned businesses on behalf of U.S. corporations or WBE certification through city, county or state programs.
“The certification gives us another tool in our toolbox to use to go after certain government contracts that require a minimum participation level of spend with small businesses and diverse business enterprises,” she explains.

A Foundation Of Safety
One part of the company’s foundation is safety, says Alicia Brentzel. “Our employees are the company’s greatest asset and their health and safety is the company’s number one priority. Our safety record is amazing and we attribute that to truly establishing the priority that safety is first. We do not make any sacrifices to safety, period.”
All employees receive comprehensive annual training from company management on all aspects of work Brex Enterprises does. A company safety committee – made up of employees and managers – meet monthly to monitor and address issues. The committee also conducts on-site inspections at random.
There is a company-wide commitment to safety on an employee and management level, she adds. This is achieved through initial training and annual training thereafter. The company’s safety training programs comply with all clients’ requests and regulatory agencies, including the U.S. DOT and OSHA.
Being in the oil and gas industry there are already additional safety measures that we must comply with, Brentzel points out. That includes SafeLandUSA training – a standardized orientation training for workers in the U.S. Onshore and Gas Exploration & Production industries.
“Part of our bidding process is to conduct a preliminary safety analysis of the job to determine if we need to add more time and additional safety measures. Things that would add cost or time to a job is accounted for upfront.
Up to 2018, the company had no lost work claims. Since then there has been only minor incidents.

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Aug 10, 2020 - 5 years ago

Peterbilt Dealers Focus On Service To Help Drive Uptime

In an effort to eliminate downtime, Peterbilt dealerships are continually increasing their focus on delivering a level of service that is a Class above. Peterbilt dealers are investing in growing service abilities through new locations, upgraded facilities, remodels and expanded mobile service capabilities.
Earlier this year Peterbilt launched the Platinum Service Center Program and subsequently recognized the very first Platinum Service Centers. In just a few months since, there has been a 90% increase, to 132 dealerships passing the rigorous certification process. In order to attain Platinum Service Center status dealers must achieve high utilization of PACCAR Solutions Service Management, reduce overall dwell time for customer repairs, prioritize Peterbilt’s RapidCheck® triage service, and maintain exceptional parts availability.
Peterbilt dealerships are also evaluated on their availability of mobile service vehicles, which enhances customer satisfaction by getting trucks back to work quicker than ever before. Peterbilt dealers say mobile service is critical to their customers. Peterbilt Platinum Service Centers have the PSC emblem displayed next to their name on the Peterbilt.com Dealer Locater.
“Service has been an important part of our business from day one and a critical component in maintaining strong relationships with our customers. In recent years we’ve been investing heavily into our mobile service capabilities as our customers appreciate our ability to be wherever they need us and get them back going as quickly as possible”, said Glenn Larson, Dealer Principal at TLG Peterbilt.
“Peterbilt dealers are the backbone of our customer support, and to see dealers embrace how important service is to their own businesses and the uptime of their customers is very exciting. At the end of the day our number one priority is having Peterbilt trucks on the road helping keep the economy moving forward”, said Bruce Croker Peterbilt Director of Aftersales.

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Aug 10, 2020 - 5 years ago

Volvo CE To Divest Blaw-Knox Paver Business To Gencor Industries

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has signed an agreement to divest the North American Blaw-Knox paver business and associated assets to leading asphalt equipment manufacturer Gencor Industries (Gencor).
The Blaw-Knox business and associated assets will shift to Gencor, including the transfer of the manufacturing production line currently located in Shippensburg Pennsylvania. Gencor has announced that they plan to continue the manufacturing of the Blaw-Knox paver line in south-central Pennsylvania and move to a location in Letterkenny Township.
The deal, which is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2020 will allow Gencor to manufacture and develop Volvo CE’s current North American paver product line and market it under the Blaw-Knox brand. Gencor has announced that it will continue marketing and servicing the Blaw-Knox paver line through selected Volvo CE dealers in North America.

Brand With A Long Legacy
The Blaw-Knox brand dates back over a century when in 1917 Blaw Collapsible Steel Centering Company merged with the Knox Pressed and Welded Steel Company. The firm made its first road paving equipment in 1929 and the brand has since gone on to build an enviable reputation in the paving segment in North America.
Gencor Industries, Inc., is the leading manufacturer in North America of asphalt plants, soil remediation plants, combustion systems, and heat transfer systems to the road and highway construction industry.
“Gencor is a strong player to take on the Blaw-Knox paver range, as it has extensive expertise in the asphalt industry and a good reputation for quality and customer success,” commented Melker Jernberg, President of Volvo CE. “We see this agreement as being a win-win for us and Gencor. It maintains a valuable product offer to Volvo CE customers, as well as securing dealer distribution and servicing of Blaw-Knox branded paver products in North America.”
Marc G. Elliott, President & Director of Gencor Industries, also commented, saying: “With our already strong position in the asphalt industry, this acquisition will afford Gencor access to the venerable brand of Blaw-Knox, and provide an entry into the hot mix paver segment. We are committed to the long-term growth and development of the Blaw-Knox brand.”

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Aug 10, 2020 - 5 years ago

Doosan Bobcat Focuses on Continual Safety Improvements and Business Continuity Amid Ongoing Challenges of the Pandemic

Adversity always creates its fair share of challenges for leaders. Whether or not these challenges can be dealt with successfully often depends upon how adversity is viewed – either as a threat to overcome, or as an opportunity to improve and advance.

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Jul 23, 2020 - 5 years ago

Industry News - 2020 - Page 18 of 51

BC Mining And Exploration Community Raise $100,000 For Food Banks BC

Clear Rules Advance Cleanup Of Oil And Gas Wells

Woman-Owned Construction Company Brex Enterprises Setting New Standards

Peterbilt Dealers Focus On Service To Help Drive Uptime

Volvo CE To Divest Blaw-Knox Paver Business To Gencor Industries

Doosan Bobcat Focuses on Continual Safety Improvements and Business Continuity Amid Ongoing Challenges of the Pandemic

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