McWane

McWane Industries, Inc. is one of the world's largest manufacturers of iron water works and plumbing products and one of America's largest privately owned companies. The company manufactures a host of different products including ductile iron pipe and fittings, cast iron soil pipe and fittings, heavy duty couplings, utility poles, and related products. McWane is also a manufacturer of pressurized cylinders for the storage of propane and other gases through its Manchester Tank and Equipment Company division and tank refurbishment and recertification through its Ditech Testing division, as well as fire protection systems and extinguishers through its Amerex subsidiary. Additionally, McWane owns and operates hotels, self-storage businesses and industrial warehousing through Highline Real Estate. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, McWane is a family-owned company employing more than 6,000 team members in over 20 locations worldwide. In addition to the United States, the company has international operations in Canada, China, and India. McWane’s products are used across Asia and the Pacific, Europe, South America and nearly everywhere in North America. McWane's operating revenues were estimated at approximately $3.4 billion in 2025.

Growth and expansion

International expansion

McWane's international expansion began in 1989 when it acquired Canada Pipe Company in Hamilton, Ontario, then part of Canron Inc. of Toronto. The company established Clow Canada in 1990¹ with manufacturing in Saint John, New Brunswick; the Saint John works had previously operated as Thomas McAvity & Company from 1834 to 1960 before being sold to Crane Canada Ltd. Through Canada Pipe, McWane acquired the Bibby Companies in 1997 and in 1999 extended operations to Australia with the acquisition of Manchester Tank & Equipment Company. In 2005, McWane built the Tyler Xian Xian Foundry Company, in Hebei, China and in 2010, McWane acquired Manchester Tank & Equipment Cemcogas SA in Santiago, Chile. Through its Amerex subsidiary, McWane also acquired Solberg Scandinavian AS, a Bergen, Norway-based firefighting foam manufacturer. The company added Seoul-based Comtech Korea and Ontario-based Futurecom in 2012 and acquired UK-based Zinwave in 2014. In 2015, it opened its first manufacturing plant in Abu Dhabi called McWane Gulf. In June 2024, Manchester Tank & Equipment announced it would acquire the tank refurbishment and recertification business assets of Ditech Testing, a Canadian firm with operations in New Brunswick and Alberta.

Criminal and civil violations

Following the media reports, the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched an intensive investigation into McWane's safety and environmental practices. Federal regulators brought formal charges against McWane facilities and managers, resulting in $25 million in fines and prison sentences of up to 70 months for four McWane plant managers. Regulators also charged McWane with more than 400 air and water quality violations. The company resolved the bulk of the environmental violations in 2010, when it agreed to pay $4 million in civil penalties and spend another $9.1 million on environmental projects in communities near its plants. This agreement covered 28 of the company's manufacturing facilities in 14 states, and resolves violations including the Clean Air Act. the Clean Water Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and three other federal acts. McWane's President said the agreement was "the beginning of the final chapter" in McWane's effort to be in full compliance. PBS Frontline aired an updated version of "A Dangerous Business" entitled "A Dangerous Business Revisited" on February 5, 2008, on most PBS stations throughout the United States. Included in this version was additional reporting regarding federal prosecutions against McWane, Inc. since the original airing, as well as checking the OSHA data to verify whether McWane, Inc.'s new safety standards have made working conditions truly safer for its foundry employees.

Commitment to safety and environment

Prior to the media reports, the company had been implementing changes to its operating practices since 2000, according to McWane's president. Following the 2003 investigations, McWane continued to reform its safety and environmental practices, bringing on new management and implementing new safety procedures. The company replaced 90 percent of its senior management and added 125 new environmental, health and safety, and human resources positions since 1999. In addition, McWane spent over $300 million on environmental protection and health and safety (EHS), and implemented a centralised EHS management system to detect environmental, and health and safety problems. It also began self-reporting oversights to authorities. McWane updated its Ethics and Compliance Policy and created a training and educational program for EHS and management skills. To ensure legal compliance, the company implemented oversight mechanisms and incentive schemes, including internal and external (third party) audits and a financial incentive program for managers based upon EHS performance, an appropriate range of disciplinary actions for noncompliance, along with a confidential, 24-hour phone line for reporting suspected violations and other concerns.

Independent review and recognition

In a 2006 letter to the EPA, international president of the United Steelworkers Leo Gerard wrote that McWane's current management "has shown a dramatic change in attitude" and that "current safety practices at McWane are as good as or better than any of its competitors." During sentencing of the company in a case regarding environmental damages in New Jersey, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Cooper concluded, "A night and day difference has been accomplished, not by wishful thinking, but by determined and sustained effort at all levels. They are determined to continue to serve in all the ways that they serve and to do everything they can to prevent environmental, health, and safety damage to anyone." As a result of the changes implemented by McWane, the company and its operating divisions and subsidiaries have received local and national recognition and awards. The company's Union Foundry has won safety awards, including Alabama's highest safety award from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. The company's Pacific States plant received both the Utah Department of Environmental Quality's Outstanding Achievement in Pollution Prevention Award and the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce's "Business of the Year" award in 2007. In 2008, the Birmingham Business Journal named McWane's president as its Green Business Leader of the Year. Five McWane plants have been admitted into OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) and designated as VPP Star Sites, which recognize exemplary health and safety programs, a status that fewer than 1% of all U.S. workplaces attain. In 2023, Clow Valve and M&H Valve received the American Foundry Society Safe Year Award, a recognition that commends AFS corporate member facilities for achieving an impressive milestone of one year (365 consecutive calendar days) without a lost-time incident. Clow Valve and Kennedy Valve also received the 2023 AFS Safety & Insight Award for Ergonomics, and M&H Valve received the 2023 AFS Safety & Insight Award for Ergonomics and Health. In 2024, McWane Ductile was recognized with the New Jersey Governor’s Award for Safety and Health Excellence for employers who are committed to improving their safety and health programs and who have injury and illness rates below their industry average.

External links

New York Times coverage of McWane U.S. Department of Justice - U.S. v. McWane Corp. Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation, filed under 1201 Vanderbilt Road, Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL:

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362349459 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.

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