Pride is back. The Lewiston project was overdue. The tank was sun-faded and corroding, its underbelly mocked with black fungal colonies. Image: Steve Lunde
LEWISTON, Minn. —After sandblasting and a snazzy two-color paint job, the Lewiston standpipe gleams like new. A five-man crew from J.R. Stelzer, a Nebraska tank servicing company, has finished its work. Look carefully: No, those aren’t ants but a pair of daring Stelzer tank-techs descending the foremost leg at the end of their shift. Their coatings typically last 25 years. Such external maintenance typically costs $190,000. Properly maintained tanks have useful lives of 120 years, sometimes more. The tank refitting was connected only tangentially to June 2023 contamination .