It’s made some of the state’s boiler operators boiling mad, but special legislation written explicitly for Hedstrom Lumber Company passed both the Minnesota House and Senate by a wide margin at the close of this year’s legislative session.
State Senator Tom Bakk and House Representative Dave Dill introduced an amendment written specifically for Hedstrom Lumber that would allow the mill to run its high-pressure boiler at night without a licensed boiler operator on site. The goal is to run the sawmill’s dry kiln when none of the mill’s six licensed boiler operators are working.
The language that has riled high and low pressure boiler operators states:
“Sawmills, located in a county with a population of less than 8,000 according to the last federal census and that utilizes steam for the drying of lumber are not required to meet the high pressure boiler attendance requirements set forth in the Minnesota Rules, part 5225.1180, only if all of the following conditions are met:
The owner complies with the inspection requirements under section requirements 326B.958, and the licensing requirements and the boiler: is equipped with electronic control systems that are remotely operated but which require on site manual reset of system faults; remotely monitored for log water levels, boiler pressure, and steam flow; has automatic safety mechanisms built into the remote monitoring systems that send an alarm upon detection of a fault condition, and may be heard at a distance of 500 feet; has a third party water treatment company; and is attended on site by a licensed boiler at least two times in a 24-hour period. If the boiler is not attended more than twice in a 24-hour period, the period between checks must not be less than eight hours.”
Reed Sprung, president and CEO of Sprung Services, Inc. out of New Brighton, Minnesota said he was strongly against the language in the amendment. He and his wife sent out thousands of e-mails to some of the 31,000 licensed high and low pressure boiler operators in the state. The Sprungs company provides businesses with low-and high-pressure boiler operators and offers a wide array of services that include maintenance, repairs, and training for people to obtain their boiler licenses.
“There were no experts suggesting the proposed new law would be safe. It would be difficult to find such a person. The only people speaking in favor of the law were the person who would benefit from it financially and the politicians (with no boiler experience or training) who support him.
“There was no expert testimony against the new law. I checked with the biggest boiler manufacturers that make the type of boiler and controls we were looking at. I told them the plan was to operate these boilers remotely much of the time. They didn’t just recommend against it. Their comments were, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ and other similar comments.
“If another party uses it [the amendment] as a precedent, they will do it while writing their own bill, which wouldn’t have the limitations in it that Representative David Dill likes to cite. It [the changes] would be made possible by this bill, but it wouldn’t be protected by the limitations in it.
“In the end, this law is dangerous for employees at Hedstrom Lumber and everyone who lives nearby. It is also potentially dangerous to other people around the state who live or work near boilers. Some of these boilers are much larger and more dangerous.
“And yes, the law may threaten the jobs of thousands of boiler operators,” said Sprung.
Hedstrom Lumber Company, a family owned business, is celebrating its 100th year of continuous operation this summer. Howard Hedstrom said he doesn’t anticipate any boiler operators in the state will lose their jobs because of this bill, and he said the company has an obligation to its employees to properly maintain the boiler in a safe and efficient manner. Hedstrom said the company has complied with all of the requirements in the HF 2198 bill amendment.
Dill said the special legislation for Hedstrom Lumber can’t be used by anyone else, and has a sunset clause of January 1, 2015, at which time it will be reviewed by committees of the House of Representatives and Senate with jurisdiction for statutory changes that reflect current high pressure boiler technologies and operating processes.
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