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helps spot any kind of anomalies in the pipeline, areas of concern, which we then can locate and dig up and repair, or replace. So, we provide all the field activities around this integrity manage- ment practice in pipelines.” BVM: Over the last several years, pipelines have become a bit of a political football, a sym- bol, if you will, of the tensions between the fossil fuel sector and those who fear pollution from leaks. What’s your take on the issue? ERICKSON: “When you see these things that make the news, these pipeline ruptures or leaks, they’re typically older pipelines. Modern pipelines are being installed today with cathodic protection and, with the me- thodical, systematic monitoring and repair that’s done on them – they’re easily the safest way to transport hazardous liquid. (Cathodic protection is a technique used to control the corrosion of a metal surface, such as in long pipelines, by making it the cathode of an elec- trochemical cell.) “Our industry is very sensitive to its envi- BLACKEAGLE ENERGY SERVICES ronmental image, and our performance in this area is why many of our customers choose us for their sensitive environmental jobs. Tak- ing care of the environment and the public is part of our performance management system, which requires daily planning on every crew to mitigate environmental impacts and track any and all environmental incidents. The environ- mental impact is very highly scrutinized and the scorecard system that I discussed earli- er has environmental criteria as part of that safety measure. Again, we set standards and see how we’re doing and report it back out on a weekly basis. And we found that this has helped us manage our environmental impact, and our safety, as well, on these projects. “Recently, we were chosen for two environ- mentally sensitive projects with high public visibility. Both of these projects took place in Colorado resort towns, and our customers want- ed assurance that the highest standards would be met. They chose Blackeagle for both these projects, despite the fact that we were not the low bidder on either. They wanted us because