Inside this issue:  Message from Murray  P1  Environmental Services  P2  Waste Solutions   P3  Seneca Sales P4  Leadership Updates   P5

SENECANEWS Q1 2016 IN REVIEW

SPRING 2016 ISSUE  9

MESSAGE from

MURRAY

Dear Customers, 2016 is starting a little faster than it has in the last couple of years. There is strong interest in EMV, and discussions are taking place on how they might meet the EMV requirements most cost effectively. While these deliberations are taking place, we are amazed by the strong interest in the investment in new sites by new customers. In addition, there is interest in the conversion from fueling systems to blending systems for existing sites. The blending opportunities may be subsidized by USDA and state-led efforts. “USDA to Invest Up to $100 Million to Boost Infrastructure for Renewable Fuel Use, Seeking to Double Number of Higher Blend Renewable Fuel Pumps WASHINGTON, May 29, 2015 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest up to $100 million in a Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership to support the infrastructure needed to make more renewable fuel options available to American consumers. Specifically, USDA will administer competitive grants to match funding for state-led efforts to test and evaluate innovative and comprehensive approaches to market higher blends of renewable fuel, such as E15 and E85. States that are able to provide greater than a one-to-one ratio in funding will receive higher consideration.” Read more here.

With the growth in biofuels, there has been a boom in our fuel polishing and tank cleaning business offered by our Waste Solutions division. Biodiesel fuel installations are seeing considerable bacteria accumulation, and the metallic fittings in contact with ethanol are resulting in significant corrosion. All of these conditions are resulting in the degradation of the quality of fuel due to particulates which are plugging filters and resulting in more preventive maintenance costs. Our patented technology, provided by our partners Leighton O’Brien (LOB), is a cost effective way of removing the contaminates and returning the clean fuel back to the tank with a negligible loss of inventory. The items above and other market segment demands have caused us to spend a lot of time figuring out how to meet this obvious spike in demand. By working with our HR department, we have stepped up recruiting, and we are investing heavily in training and processes to bring the human capital to a productive state more rapidly. We anticipate that we will have to expand the fleet of vehicles significantly as the vast majority of the growth in employee head count will be in our Petroleum Service division. Our models predict that by 2018 our staff will have expanded from the current 300 to 450 employees. For our customers it is important to consider the constraints in the supply chain during their yearly planning and budgeting. We are willing and anxious to open up a dialog with all customers concerning their plans to meet complete EMV requirements and growth in general. Here is to great success in your businesses.

Sincerely, Murray Nelson President

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SenecaNews Spring2016

Environmental Services Division Leslie Nagel

How does the end of the Iowa Underground Storage Tank Program impact you? In February 2016, House Bill 2381 was introduced to cease funding to the Iowa Underground Storage Tank Fund Program in July of 2016 - closing down the program entirely by July 2017. As of April 2016, this bill was modified to House File 2462 and passed. This has extended the funding through 2016 and removed the closure of the program. How does this fund impact you as an Iowa UST owner/operator? Impacts Tank closure benefits of up to $15,000 per site • Seneca completes approximately fifteen (15) tank closures a year providing our clients $225,000 in cost savings. The Fund reimbursed (saved owner/operators) $700,000 last year for tank closure benefits. Funding for No Further Action (NFA)-reopener claims (must have NFA-certificate on deed to be eligible) • Currently costs for historic contamination on sites that are “re-opened” by the DNR are paid for by the IUST Fund. Future costs are not safeguarded. − Seneca is one of two contractors that can complete this work under a contract with the Fund. − Seneca has completed over $550,000 in work under the NFA-reopener. This work would not have been paid for by the owner/operator’s insurance carrier, therefore would have been a direct cost to the owner/operator. • A majority of NFA re-opener claims come from UST closures and product piping updates. • There is potential for an increase in NFA re-openers with the new EPA/State UST testing requirements. • Funding ($100/operator) for Iowa Class A/B Operator training. Funding for pre-1990 releases that have not been identified • If you find an unregistered tank during construction activities, funding may not be available for tank removal or cleanup. Costs incurred vary, but can be between $15,000 and $200,000 per site. The Iowa UST Fund aids the following: pre-1990 leaking UST cleanup, UST closures, removal of contaminated soil for City ROW repairs/upgrades, DNR review of reports, leaking UST Tier software updates, No Further Action (NFA) re-opened sites, Closure Contract (inactive claim) sites, A/B Operator training and Low Risk Corrective Action. If you have questions about your site, call your Iowa Certified Groundwater Professional, or if you have questions about the Fund contact James Gastineau at (515) 440-7016. For more information about this, or any of our other Environmental Services, please contact Leslie Nagel, Consulting Manager at: (515) 261-7717 or at [email protected].

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Waste Solutions Services Division

Chris Biellier

The Cost of a Failed Safety Program Safety is the state of being “safe” (from French sauf), the condition of being protected from harm or other non-desirable outcomes. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Safety is sometimes broadly used within organizations with differing perspectives on how it affects their business. Within Seneca it is continuously evolving, not just to meet our own goals and expectations, but also that of the customers we serve. Not abiding by the safety performance expectations set by our customers could ultimately cost us that valued customer. It should be understood that every accident has something in common - it costs everyone involved something. We invest heavily in training each year - promoting safe work practices, policies and procedures regardless of the Seneca division. Others in the industry may argue that the cost of preventing accidents through investment in a healthy safety program may be too costly and have little return. I beg to differ - not investing in safety would cost us much, much more than those that do not embrace safety may realize. Employee direct costs come into play in the form of lost regular wages and anticipated overtime income. An employee readily understands that when there are personal financial commitments, a workers’ compensation check just does not pay the bills. The indirect effects are things such as mental anguish, physical pain and suffering. This in turn leads to decreased active participation with family and friends and an increased inability to be productive on or off the job. From an employer perspective, direct cost factors such as workers’ compensation claims, medical bills, associated legal and increased insurance costs, as well as repair to damaged property as a result an incident, become focused pain points that are not desired and expel a lot of energy to rectify. Other factors that require emphasis are the Company’s indirect costs. These include things such as a loss of a valued employee due to an injury. The investment made in each employee is now lost and the cost to hire and train a replacement is never budgeted for. There will be required managerial and clerical time expended to handle injury claims and time loss wages paid with no work performed. In short, the indirect (or hidden) cost in an accident can be between three and ten times the actual cost of the claim. Much of Seneca’s success is through service to our customers. Lost time means poor service and quality for our customers, causing dissatisfaction. Poor safety scores such as “Lost Time Accidents” can result in loss of future business with our customers due to the customer’s own internal safety score metrics threshold criteria. Seneca takes great pride in investing in safety measures and awareness with our employees through sound accountability follow through, education and award for compliance.

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SenecaNews Spring2016

Safety awareness, training, strong employee open communication and recognition rewards are just a few things that Seneca takes pride in. The health and safety of our employees will continue to be in the forefront of the work performed daily for our customers ensuring longevity of business success and solidifies the partnerships we continue to embrace. We expect this, our customers expect this and most importantly, each employee expects this. For more information please contact Chris Biellier, Vice President of Environmental & Waste Solutions Services Divisions at (563) 332-8000 or at [email protected].

Seneca Sales

JC Risewick

Seneca Partners with CHS Seneca Companies is now an official marketing partner for CHS, Inc. in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. In addition to the same great products and services we have always provided, Cenex members in these states will now receive the added benefit of working with Seneca as a CHS marketing partner. This includes access to all Cenex sponsored programs, sales promotions, technical resources and patronage. Seneca provides a broad range of services to the convenience store industry including: fuel systems construction, distribution and service; waste solutions and emergency response services; fuel polishing and restoration services; environmental and compliance services; general contracting services; electrical and automation services; remediation and process systems; and automotive and fleet equipment sales and service. For the complete overview of services, please visit www.senecaco.com. Seneca warehouses more than $4 million worth of Petroleum-related inventory from major brands such as Gilbarco, Veeder-Root, Containment Solutions, OPW, Husky, INCON, FE Petro, Verifone, Irpco, Cim-Tek and many more. Most products can be purchased 24/7 at Seneca’s online Petroleum Equipment Store. If you are a Cenex member and would like to learn more about how Seneca can assist your operations, please contact your local Seneca representative. Eastern Iowa: Al Cheever (319) 239-3377 [email protected]

Western Iowa / Eastern Nebraska: Mike Freese (515) 450-9156 [email protected]

Western Nebraska: Scott Marr (303) 525-0744 [email protected]

Illinois: Jeff Oberman (217) 358-0200 [email protected]

VISIT store.senecaco.com TO PURCHASE

FUEL SYSTEMS PARTS ONLINE. Make sure to register to receive alerts of special pricing or private promotions. Page 4

SenecaNews Spring2016

Leadership Updates JC Risewick has been promoted from Vice President of Sales to Chief Operating Officer. He joined Seneca as a field services representative in 2006, was promoted to General Manager of Seneca’s Industrial Division in 2009 and was named Vice President of Sales in 2013. Murray Nelson has served as President and COO since 1999 and will continue as President with the primary responsibility of leading strategic direction, while passing the responsibility of the overall profitability of the company to JC. Chris Biellier will now be leading Seneca’s Environmental Services, in addition to Waste Solutions, as Vice President, overseeing all aspects of both divisions. Chris has amassed over 28 years of experience in varying environmental disciplines, as well as serving on numerous committees and panel discussion groups throughout the region as an advocate and consultant. Chris Haggard was named the new Vice President of Sales. Chris joined Seneca Companies in 2011 as Branch Manager for Tulsa’s Fuel Systems division and will now be directly responsible of all field sales personnel throughout the organization and have indirect responsibility of account managers. In addition, he will be work closely with marketing to ensure that sales is aligned with and leveraging marketing systems. Mike Fitter was named the Environmental Branch Operations Manager for the Tulsa office. Mike comes to Seneca with over 25 years of setting the standard for environmental consulting in Oklahoma. At Seneca, he manages the Tulsa branch, directing branch administrative and operational functions. Allen Harris joined the Seneca Team as the Operations Manager for the Tulsa Petroleum Division. In this role, Allen will oversee all construction operations at the Tulsa Branch. CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: 4140 East 14th Street – Des Moines, Iowa 50313 800.369.5500 FUEL SYSTEMS | GENERAL CONTRACTING | ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES | WASTE SOLUTIONS SERVICES REMEDIATION & PROCESS CONTROLS | AUTOMOTIVE & FLEET EQUIPMENT

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