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WASHINGTON, D.C., June 1, 2002 - Twelve manufacturers of corrugated high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe and/or resin have successfully had their products certified via a third-party testing program initiated by the Plastics Pipe Institute.

The official list of certified products and manufacturers can be viewed at www.cppa-info.org by clicking on the certification logo. The complete Certification Protocol and technical interpretations are also viewable at that web address.

The Corrugated Polyethylene Pipe Association (CPPA) Division of the Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) established a certification program in the fall of 2001 and commissioned a third-party company to certify manufacturers of corrugated HDPE pipe and resin.

"This program has held corrugated HDPE pipe to the highest standards," said Rich Gottwald, executive director of PPI. "No other products or materials in the storm water pipe industry are measured so strictly. We've raised the confidence level of engineers and contractors that the corrugated HDPE pipe they specify and install in their projects has been scrutinized for consistency in raw materials, manufacturing and design criteria for dimensional performance."

The PPI pipe certification program tests for the material, dimensional, and physical performance properties as specified in AASHTO M294/MP7 for 12-inch to 60-inch pipe. If the pipe complies with all requirements and the manufacturer's quality control program is satisfactory, PPI will list the certified pipe on its Web site and mark the products with its Certified Products Seal.

Resin certification can be attained after the administrator conducts material testing per AASHTO M294 and MP7 Section 6.1 which includes ASTM International D3350 cell class and slow crack growth resistance requirements.

PPI will issue the certification mark to all pipe and/or resin manufacturers that meet those standards.

Certified manufacturers of both pipe and resin are subject to random audits by TRI/Environmental, Inc. The firm is a full service geosynthetics testing laboratory, unaffiliated with any other engineering/design, manufacturing, installation or distribution firm. TRI has been servicing the geosynthetics and construction industry for 18 years.

"This is just the latest benchmark in our goal to continually improve the performance of corrugated HDPE pipe," said Gottwald. "It's another first for the polyethylene pipe industry."

The PPI Certification Protocol document is available at www.cppa-info.org by clicking on the certification program icon.

The Plastics Pipe Institute, Inc. is the major trade association representing all segments of the plastic pipe industry including pipe manufacturers, resin manufacturers, and other interested groups. PPI's goal is to broaden market opportunities for plastic pipe through standards development, education programs, publication of technical, statistical and general reports, and ongoing liaisons with industry, education and government groups.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 2002 - The Plastics Pipe Institute's Technical Director, Dr. Gene Palermo, will receive awards from two different organizations in 2002 for his outstanding dedication and contributions to the plastics piping industry.

Palermo is this year's recipient of the Frank W. Reinhart and Henry "Butch" Kuhlmann award, administered by the American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM International). He also will be recognized with a Silver Award of Merit from the American Gas Association (AGA).

He has been a member of the ASTM International F17 committee for 20 years. In that time, his accomplishments justify his earning ASTM's second most prestigious award. Most notably, Palermo serves as Chairman of the ISO TC 138 subcommittee. As Chairman, he represents the United States at international pipe meetings. Exhibition of outstanding leadership, original authorship and organizational service qualify a member of the AGA to receive an Award of Merit. He received the organization's Silver Award of Merit, due in part to a series of papers he authored and presented at recent AGA symposiums. Most recently, he presented a paper citing the differences between ISO gas pipe standards and ASTM International pipe standards.

"Gene's expertise makes him a leader in the plastics piping industry," said Rich Gottwald, Executive Director of PPI. "PPI is fortunate to have him as a resource."

"I am delighted to be this year's recipient of both awards," Palermo said. "I feel extremely humble about being recognized by my colleagues in the industry." Palermo completed his undergraduate work at the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota then earned his doctorate in Analytical Chemistry from Michigan State University.

He began his career at E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware, where he concentrated on new business development, analytical and physical measurement and Aldyl Pipe. He was an employee of Uponor Aldyl Company, New Castle, Delaware, and Elf Atochem North America, Philadelphia, before he joined the ranks at PPI in 1996.

As the current Technical Director of PPI, Palermo is responsible for ensuring the industry advances technically accurate and responsible positions. He also serves as Chairman of PPI's Hydrostatic Stress Board.

Choosing the proper materials to help move water long distances is important in any piping system application. When the project requirements get more specific - like pumping ashore 38-degree seawater from a 3,000-foot depth for use by aquaculture and energy-generating tenants in Hawaii - that decision carries even more importance.

Engineers at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), near Keahole Point on the western-most point of the Big Island of Hawaii, needed to do just that. NELHA operates the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park that provides the resources, support, and facilities for many innovative ocean-related businesses. Engineers from NELHA's consultant, Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc., chose about 10,000 feet of HDPE pipe in 55-inch and 63-inch diameters.

"It works," said Tom Daniel, one of the project scientists with NELHA, when describing the reasons for choosing HDPE. "The flexibility and strength have proven to be ideal. The buoyancy and flexibility of HDPE allow cost-effective deployments."

Since the world's tropical oceans are a huge collector of heat energy, NELHA engineers can take advantage of a process that uses that energy for various scientific and practical endeavors. That process is called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). NELHA has hosted a series of OTEC experiments since its founding in 1974.

OTEC utilizes the difference in temperature between warm surface seawater and cold deep seawater to produce energy. The cold deep seawater can also be used to air-condition buildings, desalinate water, grow lobsters and fish, produce algae and shellfish, grow cold-climate fruit and vegetables and much more. To do that, NELHA must get the cold water from deep in the ocean to the surface.

The Municipal & Industrial Division of the Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) is focused on opening and broadening market opportunities for polyethylene pipe for water distribution. The NELHA project at Keahole Point was a perfect fit to advance the vision and mission of both organizations.

"These are the kinds of unique applications that you'll be seeing more of in the future," said Rich Gottwald, executive director of PPI. "The list of applications for HDPE keeps growing."

PPI manufacturing member KWH Pipe of Mississauga, Ontario produced the pipe for the project from March through May of 2001. The pipe was ultimately carried by barge to the project site and installed in October of 2001. Ease of installation was another main reason HDPE pipe was chosen.

"The pipe is filled with air, which supports it and its anchors during towing to the site where it is flooded for sinking," Daniel said. "The intrinsic buoyancy of the HDPE pipe allows cost-effective designs using buoyant catenaries or pendant-weighted buoyant sections to avoid rough areas on the bottom of the ocean."

The 9000-foot long cold water pipeline was successfully deployed Oct. 11 and 12, 2001 by the Contractor, Healy Tibbitts Builders, Inc. of Honolulu. The pipeline was delivered in two shipments arriving the previous June and July.

The pipe was fused into nine sections, each approximately 1,000 feet in length on shore at Kawaihae Harbor on the northwest corner of the Big Island. In a 3-day assembly and deployment operation, the flanged sections were joined into one 9,000-foot long pipe segment, towed 27 miles to the site and deployed using a controlled submergence process.

A separate warm water intake structure was also installed near the 80-foot-deep end of one shore crossing tunnel, and spool pieces connect that structure and the offshore HDPE pipe to the two tunnels constructed earlier. The tunnels extend about 500 ft onshore to the pump station which is now under construction. The system is expected to begin pumping ashore deep cold (39°F) and surface (76°F - 81°F) seawater by the end of July 2002.

Daniel says OTEC has tremendous potential for large-scale energy generation in the future.

"If ways can be found to deploy and operate large pumps at 3,000-foot depth, HDPE might again prove to be the ideal pipe material for the very large diameter pipes required for that application, too," Daniel said.

In the meantime, there is growing interest in smaller diameter suction pipelines for bringing ashore deep seawater for aquaculture and cooling applications, like the one at Keahole Point. The only existing example outside of NELHA is Cornell University's Lake Source Cooling Project which cools the University campus by pumping cold water from 250 feet deep in Cayuga Lake through a 2-mile long 63-inch HDPE pipeline, also designed by Makai Ocean Engineering.