FY21 U.S. Military Hangar Contracts & NFPA 409
Q2 of 2021 – Installation for U.S. military base in Q2 of 2021 – 8k sq ft Safespill hangar floor.
THE INDUSTRY’S PROBLEM
Awareness of PFAS contamination’s enormity, specifically related to the use of PFAS firefighting foam, or AFFF, is escalating at an exponential pace. The new administration in Washington is laser-focused on our environment and the chemical composition of “foam” used in hangar fire protection. The chemicals in the foam were unknown and have led to family-destroying illnesses, such as birth defects and various cancers including kidney and ovarian, and increasing environmental contamination, primarily through runoff from inadvertent, or accidental, discharges of the AFFF systems.
PRESSURES:
➤ Communities all across the U.S. whose drinking water is contaminated by PFAS runoff.
➤ Commercial aviation and their insurance carriers are no longer accepting inadvertent discharge of foam systems as a cost of doing business.
➤ The DOD needs to meet the 2020 NDAA mandate to remove and replace AFFF by Oct. 2024.
THE SAFESPILL FLOOR
There is a chemical contamination problem. Do we want a chemical solution?
Safespill uses gravity and water, eliminating the need for any chemical use. We contain and remove 100% of any ignitable liquid (jet fuel) spill and eliminate the risk of accidental foam discharge forever.
SOME NOTABLE SAFESPILL MILESTONES:
➤ We have 2 FM Approvals under Standard 6090, developed for Safespill’s technology. The most recent approval is for high flow, suitable for larger floor areas (aircraft hangars). Note: Safespill’s technology is referred to here and throughout the DoD as an, “Ignitable Liquid Drainage Floor Assembly” (ILDFA).
➤ Safespill has 4 U.S. military hangar contracts for FY 2021 at various bases, including for the Air Force, Navy, and the Army.
➤ Data has been submitted to NFPA 409; Safespill is on the July 2021 final ballot for inclusion as an equivalent to existing fire protection schemes.
➤ A 3rd party fire protection engineer has verified the data above; see the test report below.
SEE HEAT FLUX TEST REPORT SUBMITTED
THE PAST: WALL-TO-WALL FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS
For the first time, thanks to Safespill’s spill radius maps, fire protection personnel, operators, and insurance carriers can quantify how large a spill of ignitable liquid will be in the event of an incident. Since we eliminate the risk of a pool fire and its unknown shape and size, our spill radius data is critical when protecting hangar assets.
Currently, 95% of our project designs are for the retrofit of existing hangars due to broken AFFF fire protection systems or the need to modify a hangar to house fueled aircraft. A benefit to our Safespill floor is that we only need to cover, on average, 65% of the hangar floor, rather than wall-to-wall (as AFFF systems require) — this a considerable saving in cost per square foot. Floor openings, e.g., grounding points, tie-downs, and air duct ventilation, are available and added anywhere per the project’s requirements. Safespill utilizes pre-formed trenches to simplify the installations in our prime contracting scenarios.
THE FUTURE
The DoD (military) hangar contracts awarded to Safespill are, arguably so, of the greatest importance of all applications due to the high cost of military aircraft and their roll in our national defense. The first will be installed in Q2 of 2021; see the trial fit of one of two (1/2) 8k sq ft hangar floors below.
Safespill has spoken to many fire protection engineers, fire chiefs, colonels, admirals, civil engineers, hangar operators, facility managers, AHJs, environmental engineers, and EHS engineers all over the world. We have strong relationships with NAVFAC, AFCEC, USACE, international A&E firms, and all of the nation’s largest defense contractors. We are actively installing systems throughout the DoD and designing plans for several of their projects, particularly in test and development hangars; the loss of a one-of-a-kind (priceless) aircraft and associated technology could delay critical systems being delivered to the warfighter on time.
By the time the Safespill system is accepted in NFPA 409 as an equivalent to existing fire protection schemes, commercial hangar operators will have the luxury of lessons learned and feedback given from our military installations. Therefore, commercial hangar owners and other fire protection stakeholders will know how Safespill performs and interfaces with aircraft maintainers and maintenance procedures.
With the EWG, EPA, FAA, DoD, and Members of Congress, the aircraft hangar industry is acquainted with the need for environmentally safe fire protection, and Safespill is that solution. We exist today, and Safespill is prepared and capable of meeting the military and commercial demand for environmentally safe fire protection.
MEDIA CONTACT
Bill Workman, Director of Business Development for Military and Commercial Aviation, sales@safespill.com
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