While Larry Young was serving as a Business Development Manager for Spence Corrosion Services, he took notice of recent pipeline oil spills that had taken place. He believed in the future of Canada’s oil and gas sector, but he also believed in protecting the health of Canada’s environment. If the energy industry could put secondary containment around oil tanks and other processing facilities, why not pipelines as well?

From this question, the Envirolock secondary containment system was born. With the basic design concept on paper, Larry partnered with Eric Thomsen and co-founded Total Containment in 2016 to pursue the commercialization of his visionary idea. The first generation of Envirolock was bulky, but nevertheless provided an effective proof of concept.

With the support of an Alberta Innovates research grant in 2018, Larry continued to refine his designs as he encountered challenges and looked for ways to improve efficiency and strength. Work persisted in spite of the arrival of the global COVID pandemic, and TCI’s first patent officially arrived in 2021. Despite the challenging business environment TCI was also able to onboard COO and Chief Engineer Jim Walsh in 2021, and the company was selected as one of Foresight Canada’s 50 Most Investible Clean Tech firms later that year in recognition of its substantial progress.

During this time, the second generation of Envirolock was created. Significantly stronger and more compact, this version forms the basis for TCI’s current product line. Originally built for the oil and gas sector, Larry and Jim soon discovered that other sectors were just as eager to find solutions to their pipeline integrity challenges. Municipalities were looking for opportunities to prevent leaks and sewer inflow/infiltration; mining companies needed solutions that could withstand the harshest chemical environments. Carbon sequestration and hydrogen researchers also saw promise in Envirolock’s capabilities to mitigate specialized problems such as ductile running fractures and embrittlement. As TCI’s team continued to test and validate its designs for hydrocarbon pipelines, they also worked to adapt the Envirolock system to meet the additional demands of the market.

The team’s hard work began to bear fruit. In 2022, Joe Freedman became TCI’s lead investor and Board chairman. During February 2023, TCI’s successfully hosted its first public demonstration of Envirolock at the Pipeline Research Council International’s Technology Development Center in Houston, TX. Shortly thereafter, current member Bill Whitelaw joined TCI’s Board of Directors and national sewer expert Barbara Robinson publicly backed TCI's sewer guard product for its ability to prevent inflow and infiltration. Industry feedback from conferences and meetings continued to be positive, and TCI gained two letters of intent for conducting full-scale demonstration projects. And in the summer of 2023, TCI was excited to announce that a mining company has committed to purchase an Envirolock-equipped test pipe to validate its performance in anticipation of its potential installation on a 600-meter pipeline segment carrying extremely corrosive chemicals.

When people ask, “why not?” some respond by listing problems to explain why it can’t be done. When TCI responds, it reframes the problems as challenges to overcome and proves instead that it CAN be done. If your organization shares TCI’s determination to embrace what’s POSSIBLE in pipeline integrity, we invite you to join us in building that more resilient, safe, and sustainable future by contacting us today!