This column highlights companies in the business of providing solutions to social and environmental challenges. Featured companies are typically held in the SmallCap Innovations portfolios offered to Walden clients.

Imagine you are running an oil refinery and your facility is operating at maximum capacity. One of your trusted engineers alerts you that a primary pipe is in danger of failing. You, as a responsible manager, want to fix this pipe in a safe, cost-effective manner, but you are concerned about the consequences of shutting down production completely. What do you do?

You could call Team Industrial Services, Inc., a leading provider of specialty maintenance and construction services related to pressurized piping systems and processes of the petrochemical, refining, and power industries. To start, Team would evaluate the distressed pipe by employing its nondestructive testing and examination methodologies. These include radiography, ultrasound, and the use of magnetic particles to evaluate the present condition of piping and to predict remaining operability.

Team is a world leader in high-temperature, high-pressure applications known as hot tapping. During hot tapping, a drilling machine cuts a hole in an on-stream, pressured pipeline. A new line is then connected to the old line without any leakage. The entire process can be completed without interrupting operations. On-stream repairs can prevent a continued loss through leaks, avoid costly energy and production losses that accompany equipment shutdowns, and lessen emissions escaping into the atmosphere. Team can hot tap piping systems containing steam, water, hydrocarbons, acids, gases, and other fluids.

Team also offers more routine repair services, such as technical bolting and leak detection. Technical bolting services provide for the disassembly and assembly of bolted joints. These methods focus on overall joint integrity and are a critical part of regular maintenance. Leak detection products identify and monitor emissions from specific equipment, allowing the customer to be compliant with environmental regulations. Team records data and prepares reports in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

Team stands to benefit from an increased focus on safety in the wake of accidents that have recently made headlines, such as the explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery in March 2005. Team’s innovative products and services demonstrate that a high level of productivity within a responsible and compliant operating framework is possible.

—H. Harris