SPRINGDALE, PA. - A federal grand jury April 18 indicted a former employee of Springdale Specialty Plastics Co. in connection with a November 1989 fire that leveled the company's plant in Springdale. Lawrence P. Livingston, 26, of New Kensington, Pa., was charged with malicious destruction of property by fire, according to U.S. Attorney Frederick W. Thieman in Pittsburgh.
A manager at the plant said last week that Livingston is a former employee. Springdale Specialty Plastics reopened in November 1990. The company blow molds bottles for motor oil and charcoal lighter fluid for its parent company, Pitt Penn Oil Inc. of Creighton, Pa.
Employee charged in factory shooting
CARTHAGE, TEXAS - A Marshall, Texas, man was charged with attempted murder April 18 after one man was shot and another held hostage at Carthage Cup Co.
Robert Bonner, 31, a former worker at the plastic cup, plate and bowl plant in Carthage, surrendered after a 12-hour standoff, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Police said Bonner shot a former supervisor, Ernest McNeill, 56, of Carthage, and held hostage the plant's manufacturing director, Steve Indrelunas, 37, also of Carthage. McNeill was in stable condition last week following surgery at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler after suffering two gunshot wounds - one to the abdomen and one to the leg, a hospital official said.
Panola County Justice of the Peace Pat Davis set Bonner's bail at $200,000.
Shell planning Mexican polyester plant
ATLANTA - Shell Chemical Co. said that engineering design work has begun on a possible world-scale plant to make polyester packaging resins in Tampico, Mexico.
Subject to final management approval later this year, the proposed facility would have an annual production capacity of 200 million pounds, Richard Oblath, general manager of Shell Chemical's polyester business, said April 20 at the Packaging Strategies conference in Atlanta. Construction would begin immediately following approval, with completion scheduled by early 1998.
The company gave no capital investment estimate.
``Our market studies with Shell Mexico have shown that there is substantial growth potential in Mexico with the rapidly expanding bottle applications for soft drinks, drinking water, as well as other food packaging operations,'' he said.
Oblath said the Tampico facility also will be able to produce 25 percent post-consumer-blend PET resin and polyethylene naphthalate resin.
Standard Products taps new executive
CLEVELAND-Standard Products Co. on April 18 named Ted M. McQuade executive vice president of North American Automotive Operations, a new position. North American Automotive is Standard Products' largest operation, representing about 53 percent of total sales.
McQuade, 40, joins Standard Products after a 15-year career with General Electric, most recently as manager of production support and global integration for GE Appliances in Louisville, Ky. He also held management positions in finance, manufacturing and marketing with GE Plastics, GE Fanuc and RCA.
In his new position, McQuade will be responsible for Cleveland-based Standard Products' 10 U.S. plastics and rubber plants. He will be based in Dearborn, Mich.
Standard Products makes sealing, trimming and vibration-control parts.
JPE Inc. buys extruder Plastic Trim
ANN ARBOR, MICH. - JPE Inc. has completed its cash purchase of Plastic Trim Inc., a Dayton, Ohio, extruder of exterior PVC trim for Big Three carmakers.
The deal closed April 11, according to Craig Homan, JPE vice president and chief financial officer. JPE is acquiring Plastic Trim's 110,000-square-foot plant in Dayton, which includes 65,000 square feet of manufacturing space with 14 extrusion lines - 12 used in daily production and two for prototyping, Homan said April 13.
JPE, based in Ann Arbor, will keep all 190 of Plastic Trim's employees, among them the 34 managers who sold their interests in the firm, he said.
