Great Lakes acquires 10 Toshiba presses
GALESBURG, MICH. — Great Lakes Molding Inc., a supplier of small parts for the automotive, furniture and lawn and garden markets, has purchased 10 new Toshiba presses.
The computerized presses, with clamping forces of 90-240 tons, cost Great Lakes about $1.5 million, said John Hoyt, chairman and chief executive officer of Great Lakes. All 10 Toshibas will be in place and producing by early next year.
Hoyt said the new presses are replacing some older, less-efficient machines that Great Lakes intends to sell. The Galesburg firm had 26 presses with clamping forces of 22-300 tons.
Reichhold buys MIC for undisclosed sum
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.—Thermoset resin supplier Reichhold Chemicals Inc. of Research Triangle Park is taking a small step into the pultrusion business.
Reichhold on Oct. 15 announced it acquired Marshall Industry Composites of Lima, Ohio, for an undisclosed sum.
Founded about two years ago, MIC holds three patents and has won design awards for its C-Bar pultruded composite reinforcement bar for concrete.
Reichhold, a major supplier of thermoset resins for the composites industry, worked with MIC in developing C-Bar, according to Reichhold spokesman Phil Bridges.
That development work stalled when MIC founder and owner Brice Nelson died of cancer Nov. 11. Nelson had helped develop the C-Bar concept with a small group of researchers, said current MIC President Sam Steere.
Rohm & Haas Co. questions EPA fine
PHILADELPHIA — Rohm & Haas Co. has requested a hearing with the Environmental Protection Agency to discuss a $36,050 fine the agency has levied against the company for infractions at its Bristol, Pa., facility.
According to EPA's Philadelphia office, the Philadelphia-based acrylic and plastics additives maker missed inspections of hazardous waste tanks in Bristol on at least 113 days between Jan. 1, 1995, and July 31, 1997. Rohm & Haas also waited until Oct. 5, 1996, to clean up an acryloid coating polymer spill that EPA inspectors observed Aug. 7 of that year, said the EPA.
At press time, no hearing date had been announced.
Company officials said the missed inspections were ``an oversight'' that resulted from the plant's switching from a seven-day work schedule to a five-day work schedule, causing weekend inspections to be eliminated. This scheduling problem was corrected after an EPA inspection in August 1996, the firm said.
Rohm & Haas is the second-largest acrylic acid maker in the world, with more than 1 billion pounds of capacity.
Condea Vista to appeal jury decision
HOUSTON — PVC maker Condea Vista Inc. plans to appeal a Louisiana jury's decision that ordered the Houston-based company to pay $7 million in punitive damages to two construction workers who were exposed to a PVC feedstock while working near a chemical spill in Westlake, La., in 1994.
Donald Cauthron and Robert Mizell each were awarded $3.5 million after a trial that ended Oct. 13 in Louisiana's 14th District Court in Lake Charles. Cauthron and Mizell each claimed to suffer from various illnesses.
After the verdict, Westlake plant manager Chris Turner issued a statement that said facts presented in the case ``didn't justify the awarding of punitive damages against Condea Vista.''
The spill, which Conoco Inc. said eventually released 1.6 million pounds of ethylene dichloride, occurred in a pipeline on Conco property. Conoco also was sued, but settled out of court.
Nova will not renew contract with Bayer
PITTSBURGH—Nova Chemicals Inc. said it will not renew its contract with polystyrene supplier Bayer Corp., and instead will increase styrenics capacity at Nova's five North American plants.
Nova will be able to run its PS plants in Decatur, Ala.; Indian Orchard, Mass.; and Montreal at near full capacity to improve its cost position, Bill Green, Nova's vice president of value process styrenics, said Oct. 20.
Nova said it is the third-largest PS producer in North America and the biggest in EPS. Earlier this year it said it would invest about US$12 million to expand its styrenics technology and research center in Monaca, Pa. Nova's U.S. sales office is in Pittsburgh. Its corporate headquarters is in Calgary, Alberta.
