Foster City, California-Equipment from the plant of Clark Foam, the major Californian surfboard core manufacturer that shut up shop dramatically at the beginning of December 2005, is to be auctioned on the internet in March. A webcast auction for equipment from the polyurethane surfboard blank factory, built up by proprietor Gordon Clark since 1961, will be held 8 March 2006, beginning at 09:00 Pacific Time in Laguna Niguel, California. The equipment includes polyurethane storing, mixing, metering and pumping units. For example, a Gusmer proportioning unit Model FF-1600 s/n T01320, two 500 gal saturated polyester polyurethane polyol storage tanks and a wide range of other custom storage tanks Also available is a Howard Corp 1100 gal reactor; a 5000 sq ft building ventilation system, and a custom board-curing oven. Also on offer is Clark's software & hardware for custom weighing and mixing. The webcast auction will be conducted live over the Internet at DoveBid's website www.dovebid.com. DoveBid lists for sale equipment for: • surfboard blank manufacturing• specialised manufacturing• woodworking, material handling & plant support equipment • trucks, trailers, computers • custom computer software and more. These assets can be viewed at the Laguna Niguel Clark Foam site on 6 & 7 March 2006, from 09:00 to 16:00 and on the morning of the sale.Participants may attend in-person or bid online, said the auctioneers. Detailed preview information, asset catalogue, and online bidding instructions are available at ww.dovebid.com.Clark originally indicated that since most of his equipment was self-designed and put together, he would not sell it. "I found that for the majority of my equipment and process I am the 'standard.' This means I am legally liable for everything I designed, built, modified, or used in my unique process."Since I am the 'standard' I am liable for everything that was built to my 'standard.' Therefore, I am not going to sell any of this equipment or the process. The liability is far too great," her said in a long letter laying out his reasons for shutting down. Clark, who supplied about 60 percent of the US's demand for polyurethane blanks (data from SIMA, the US Surf Industry Manufacturers' Association) wrote a lengthy statement to customers explaining his reasons for closing down. He cited over-regulation; difficulties with the US Environmental Protection Agency and the local fire authorities; the problems of working with toluene diisocyanate in California, and worker compensation issues; as all contributing to his decision. But he said TDI handling was one of the foremost of these issues. "For owning and operating Clark Foam I may be looking at very large fines, civil lawsuits, and even time in prison," Clark said, adding, "The way the government goes after places like Clark Foam is by an accumulation of laws, regulations, and subjective decisions they are allowed to use to express their intent." Discussing TDI, Clark said, "Over the years almost all of the TDI users have left California. The government attack on TDI has been going on for decades and California was not the only state to attack its use." Pointing out that TDI was a billion pound per year chemical in the US, Clark said some third of US TDI capacity has been closed in recent years. Clark said one reason for the TDI closure was the opening of new TDI plants in Asia that cost much less to build and operate.And Clark pointed to future TDI issues in California: a good chance that companies using TDI will be required to install a $1-million TDI fume scrubber, and, legislation being proposed in the state government that "our TDI supplier has told us would result in them withdrawing from the Californian market." "
