Viance Enters Agreement with A Meredith Schneider to Supply UltraPole NXT® Treated Poles to Utilities

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Viance, a leading innovator in the wood preservation industry, announces an agreement with A Meredith Schneider Company (AMS) and William C. Meredith Company (WCM), a soon to be 100 year old company and a leading, fifth generation producer of treated wood poles for the utility and telecommunication industries. WCM and AMS will produce and distribute UltraPole NXT poles treated with DCOI to most US markets using Southern Yellow Pine poles.

Viance announced the introduction of UltraPole NXT in 2018. UltraPole NXT, treated with DCOI which is a rigorously tested, environmentally advanced preservation system that offers utilities an alternative to penta and other preservative systems currently in use. 

Recent market developments regarding the long-term supply of pentachlorophenol have utilities and their suppliers evaluating the other preservative options. WCM will commence the commercial production of UltraPole NXT in the fourth quarter of 2020. 

The preservative in UltraPole NXT is designed to protect utility poles and cross arms from decay fungi and termites using the environmental award-winning, active ingredient, DCOI. The active ingredient in UltraPole NXT's unique formulation is fully standardized as a wood preservative by the American Wood Protection Association. As part of the standardization process, Viance presented 28-year performance data supporting the long-term protection of wood. The data showed that DCOI offered equal or better protection than penta in the long-term, side by side field study. 

"UltraPole NXT offers electric utilities a high performance, durable pole with minimal environmental impact," said John Hussa, President of Viance. "UltraPole NXT poles are backed by a 50-year warranty against termites and decay and offer the industry's only warranty for an oil-borne preservative."

Scott Schneider, president of the Meredith companies, states, "As Penta is exiting the market, we approached finding a replacement preservative as perhaps the most important decision of our generation. After doing our research and learning about the benefits of DCOI, it was the obvious choice for our company. Many of our customers specify and choose to buy our product because the environmental and performance benefits attributable to the steam conditioning process that we have utilized for nearly 100 years. Combining our proven process with complementary benefits related to the UltraPole NXT DCOI preservative is going to be a winning formula for our company and will certainly be valued by our customer base."

UltraPole NXT uses less energy, fossil fuels and water to produce, with lower eco-toxicity than other materials used for poles. A recent hazard comparison by Gradient concluded that DCOI in general, has lower hazard scores than CCA, PCP, and creosote. UltraPole NXT capitalizes on both the physical and environmental strengths of wood poles, with less impact on the environment.

DCOI, a key preservative component in Ecolife® treated decking and fencing, is the leading non-metallic preservative currently on the market. DCOI is also a major component of the marine antifouling paint, Sea-Nine™, which in 1996 won the US Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award; Designing Greener Chemicals. 

About Viance, LLC.

Viance, a leading provider of wood treatment preservatives, offers an extensive range of advanced wood treatment technologies and services to the global wood preservation industry. With expertise in wood biocides and wood protection chemicals, Viance technologies improve the performance and durability of wood products for sustainable building. Viance is a joint venture of Dupont™ and Venator™ Materials PLC.

About A Meredith Schneider Co. and William C. Meredith Co. (www.mereduc.com)

A Meredith Schneider Company and William C. Meredith Company represent five generations of the Meredith family providing quality wood utility poles to telephone and electric utilities throughout the eastern United States. Established in 1921, the companies' reputation is founded on a superior treating process utilizing the proven benefits of the steam conditioning and vacuum drying process. This process stops decay and removes moisture so the preservative will penetrate to the heartwood. Benefits include poles that are easier to climb, a consistently drier surface, less brittleness in the wood and a 50-plus year service life.

SOURCE Viance LLC