woohoo!
woohoo!
Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around, and desert you.
Uh oh. Not sure if this will come back to bite them later.
http://www.opb.org/news/series/portl...tion-controls/
~Misha
doesnt read like bulleye will have any repercussions. The state exempted them back in the day. At some point they should have reapplied when the furnaces were running full time. Would imagine they could be fined (or whatever they do to environmental offenders) for that specific duration but nothing before that.
I'm thinking more along the lines of parents who already want to sue them for "poisoning" their kids.
~Misha
http://www.spectrumglass.com/5-11-16PressRelease.pdf
I know most lampworkers do not use spectrum but another sign of the times and an overly aggressive EPA environmental government overreach. We should all look to this as a foreshadowing of our future. As boro color is just as "dirty" as soft glass, and in some cases more so.
Keeping up with this still, guys?
More updates.
http://www.uroboros.com/announcements.php?id=46
April 14, 2016
Dear Friends,
We are still in the midst of a firestorm of misleading media and hasty government overhaul of regulations. Wildly inaccurate or barely researched ‘journalism’ continues to frighten the population in Portland in the media’s never ending hunt for big lurid headlines, and federal and state authorities scramble to rewrite and impose new rules for glassmakers in the U.S. To get detailed and less partial information than what is being published as ‘news’, please refer to the official information posted on the joint Oregon Health Authority/DEQ website at SaferAir.Oregon.gov to stay updated on this hot button issue.
We’ve all been following this story closely, so we’re trying our best to provide you with the latest updates from the trenches, as we strive to ensure our production does not cause any harm to our neighbors and our environment. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions:
What are the facts and the latest government regulations?
There are still no air or soil tests conclusively linking Uroboros Glass activities to excessive or even detectable emissions of heavy metals.
Along with other colored glassmakers in Oregon, we are still under an OR-DEQ enforced suspension of production of all colors containing cadmium or chromium. Unfortunately, these two elements are required to produce about two-thirds of the colors we normally make.
In March, we signed a written operating agreement authorizing our current limited operations with OR-DEQ. Our intention is to cooperate with the authorities regarding our operations, as we have always done.
This week the EPA decided to reinterpret their own regulations for the glass industry’s smallest members. They are now insisting that all colored glassmakers in our industry become subject to Title V and NESHAP 6S permitting requirements. This changes the original NESHAP 6S author’s published interpretations as well as five State regulator’s interpretations of the 6S rules that exempted Uroboros Glass and the other colored glassmakers over the last nine years. As a result, DEQ has already directed Uroboros and Bullseye to obtain these permits. The timeline to meet the new requirement is still unclear. (Read the DEQ press release here.)
We do not dispute the appropriateness of this new interpretation of NESHAP 6S qualification requirements. The terms are close to the agreement we already have with DEQ, so we are already at work to accommodate the DEQ request and to meet this new requirement as soon as is feasible.
What is Uroboros doing to get back into production?
In addition to working with authorities to interpret their intentions, we are still working closely with two internationally experienced furnace filtration equipment manufacturers to determine the optimum solution for our unique furnaces. We are getting close to having final specifications and prices in hand to fully control emissions from our furnaces.
These are complicated and very expensive systems requiring significant engineering to guarantee that they will do the required job for years and decades without failures. We have chosen to take our time to carefully and professionally design a long lasting solution for a matter of this importance. Once a commitment is made and funding is secured, we expect the installation process to take about 3 months.
What can we do about this risk to our industry?
Raise a fuss with your legislators. Contact your senators and congressmen and make sure they are aware of this risk to our unique American manufacturing specialty- colored and decorative glassmakers. They need to know:
The stained and colored glass industry is a small, but home grown American manufacturing phenomenon. It’s unique in the world, provides steady manufacturing jobs for American workers, and is an exporting industry as well.
This industry of just six manufacturers is facing $2.5-3.5 million of capital investment due to regulatory changes with no advance warning. This investment may too much for several of them to bear.
The public’s help is needed for them to meet the goals of the new regulations in such a short time frame.
Raise a fuss in the media. Give them some new talking points to help balance the news about ‘toxic air’. They need to know:
The industry is willing to meet new regulations, but it needs reasonable time to do so.
The manufacturers are all owned by single individuals who work daily at their plants, or their families. They don’t have the resources of publicly traded corporations to simply pay up and move on.
These manufacturers supply thousands of other businesses and craftsmen who depend on their unique glass styles to complete their work. They are now at risk of being put out of work themselves.
The very suppliers who have created the iconic glass of the American stained glass legacy are at risk due to this situation.
Thank you for your ongoing support of Uroboros and your devotion to the American art glass industry.
Best Regards,
Eric Lovell
President
~Misha
Thanks for the Update Misha
i wonder at what point does a GA or Tag type take their recipes overseas to "more friendly" countries who don't care about the environment.
Probably dont even need to build a factory... i imagine there are ways to do it the way say a cold packer does for food distribution.
Im not advocating this btw.... just curious what that tipping point would be. Cause if it was me i would be considering it as the last alternative anyway. plan Z if you will.
This whole shitshow may have claimed an innocent victim. Ironically, it's a manufacturer that is both not in Portand and already had baghouse pollution controls.
Yesterday Spectrum Glass announced they are shutting down. Here is the announcement, from their website.
And here is a link to their press release addressing the closure.Dear Spectrum Glass Customers;
We are making an extraordinarily difficult announcement today. After serving the art and specialty glass industry for 40 years, it is with very heavy hearts that we must announce the closure of Spectrum Glass Company. Due to several factors, it is no longer financially feasible for our company to continue to operate.
We will continue manufacturing through June and July 2016, and will sell the product inventory currently on hand over the months ahead.
Please know that our primary concern is to help ease this difficult transition for you and all the people we’ve been proud to work with and serve. We are exploring opportunities to transfer our product lines to other manufacturers to help minimize disruptions in sourcing.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of our partners, customers, artists and others who have supported Spectrum Glass over these past four decades, and who continue to support us now. We will communicate updates here and via other channels as we wind down our operations.
You’ll find more information about why we made this decision here.
Questions and/or comments can be emailed to info@spectrumglass.com
Apparently the pollution hysteria wasn't their only problem, but it certainly contributed. While this is unlikely to affect many of the people here, it is going to be a major pain in the ass for some hot shops melting Spectrum nuggets, as well as (obviously) their flat glass customers. Way to go hype train...
Add: I see skipjack beat me to the news about Spectrum in another thread that I didn't see until just now. Oops. Them shutting down sucks either way.
Last edited by brads; 05-12-2016 at 04:32 PM.
Bullseye published an update today
http://www.bullseyeglass.com/news-releases.html
The Road Ahead: An Update for Our Customers
FOR RELEASE May 18, 2016—Recently, Spectrum Glass Company announced it will be closing operations in the next few months. We are saddened for the employees, customers, and the art glass industry.
We want you to know that Bullseye Glass is here for you now and intends to be for many years to come. However, there are difficult challenges ahead for us and for the entire art glass industry, and your continued support over the next four months is critical.
With new knowledge about air quality in Portland, Bullseye is taking action to improve our glassmaking processes. We are working tirelessly to install filtration systems and look forward to being the cleanest art glass manufacturer in the United States. Our commitment is steadfast to ensure our manufacturing process remains safe for our employees, customers, neighbors, and the community in general.
We support stronger regulation of air toxics, applied consistently to all local businesses. We are on track to meet new standards in the coming months.
Some colors are currently suspended from production while we acquire, install, and test new equipment. These colors are made with cadmium (used for bright yellows, oranges, and reds) and chromium (used for greens). We plan to have an additional furnace for making cadmium glasses in early June, and we also plan to have the ability to produce glasses containing chromium in early August, at which time the required controls will be in place and functioning.
If you are unable to source green glass in the meantime, we have created some test tiles to help you find other ways to make green.
For more information, please see our Environmental Information page. It includes links to updates, FAQs, and other useful info. You can send questions on this topic to questions@bullseyeglass.com.
We sincerely appreciate the support we have received from artists and studios around the world as we strive to adapt to these new regulations.
Sincerely,
Bullseye Glass Co.
Note: If you go to the source document in the link, there are links to more information mentioned in the press release, such as other ways to make green
http://www.bullseyeglass.com/methods...-on-green.html
http://www.kptv.com/story/32021426/g...#ixzz49ALPnGXL
Not good news.
Dumbass governor... bullseyes statement is hillarious.
Just came to post this update but you guys beat me. This is not good at all.
~Misha
I deal with environmental regulatory agencies - the cease is not surprising if the air levels are at the levels they state...schools are considered one of the top sensitive receptors. However, it's a big problem that no one is evaluating other potential sources (whether they exist or not). I'm baffled by how poorly the DEQ seems to be doing their job, they've seemed clueless every step of the way.
Bullseye is the easy target and in the spotlight. At this point, that won't change even if other responsible parties being named.
The whole thing is a complete shit show.
I assume there will always be small batch people working under the radar, & then selling goods? prices would go up, but someone would always happen to find some.
I know of a person that rents a building for his hobby, "to work on his car" while he is really operating a chrome plating shop in a fictitious name, no business license, just a cash paying customer that rents building to have place to work on his car, & many places they never ask for ID & he never stays over 2 years, he hops around several areas, he advertises about chrome plating parts, there isnt any checks to make sure who you send parts to are regulated, but he gets everything delivered to his home, & ships out from his home after completed, the parts he takes to his undisclosed location, to do the work by himself, he flushes his waste down septic, so his overhead is low, & he skips regulation, the chrome plating industry was one of the first to be regulated, & he has been doing this many years i met him nearly 10 years ago & he had been doing it many years before that. I will say his work is better than many legal shops, he takes more pride in his workmanship & even the inside corners shine, while legal places corners tend to be fuzzy.
thats what happens when govt trys to almost regulate an industry out of business. people find a way & then work mysteriously gets done. another favorite of mine is asbestos brakes, if someone really wants it, they can find, people will re-line brake shoes, or pads with asbestos material & people that will grind to match brake drums, which faded away back in the early 80's, by the way those brakes are some of best I used, & I wish was still commonly available
Back when we had our business, we were looking to move to a different location. We found a place that was perfect, but the previous business was a chrome plating company. The EPA got involved and it was going to cost us over a million dollars to do the necessary testing before we could move in. Hiring scientists to do tests, digging down like 4 feet into the ground to test the soil, some kind of test on all the surfaces of the building. It was also going to take more than a year to get it done. They ended up demolishing the place.
This is what I said on FB when I heard about this... it's appalling that the scientific method and best practices are being thrown out in favor of a witch hunt. The other issue if that if they blame Bullseye to the ignorance of other sources nothing they do will be worth anything...
paste:
Every middle school Science Fair participant does better data collection than the Oregon DEQ. This is pathetic.
The problem is how the data is being collected. No one is looking at Bullseye, they're looking at a single data collection point a distance away from Bullseye - they CANNOT (legally, logically, or ethically) assume anything is from Bullseye without an exhaustive study of _EVERY_ possible source within a significant radius of the entire collection area. That area would have to account for any possible lead source within several miles. The data set would quickly become too large with too many variables to be reliable.
If they want to blame BullsEye they need to monitor Bullseye, NOT an arbitrary location some distance away, They need to install monitoring equipment inside Bulleye's facility, inside the stacks, inside the exhaust side of the bag house, at the property line, and at some strategic points evenly spaced at a distance around the facility.
I hope Bullseye is fighting the order... it's BS, and not out of any sentiment for Bullseye of the glass industry - it's bullshit because this is NOT HOW SCIENCE WORKS.
Doug Harroun
Greymatter Glass
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 884-0318
A̿̐͒ͥ̏̅͋ͤͮ́́̒͢͏̨͙̩̦͔̫̠̲̤ͅ ̑ͨ̎͆͐̉̍̐ͤͮͨ͐̇ͩͦ̏ͣ̚͏̷̶̭̝̠͓̞̱̭̫͙̜̮̫͔̤̱͕͢b̓̓ͭ̿̓ͥ̐̒͂͂ͧ ̡̓͋̐ͥ҉̧̹͎̺̳̩̬̘̯̮̜̼̻͝ͅē̵̹̯̦̟͔͊̓̔͗͊̀͆͗̀ͭͭ̀̇͋͋ͩ̓̓͞͞͞ ̘̰̘͈a̧̹͙͇̫̲̻̳̦̦͛͑͂̌̊́̌̂̅ͤ̿͠ͅų̷̶̡̺̤̳͐̂ͣ̋̀ͅͅt̍̀͋̽͗̚ ̶͎͎̳̤͈̘̞͕̣̲̣̼͙͎̬̪̜͎̯ͤ̃̈́ͬͧ͒͟͞͝͡iͪ̋̌̄̎ͪ́̚҉̶̰͎̣̥͉̙̘̬͝ ͍͈̻̻f̡̟̤̥̝̞̈̋ͧͮ̂ͣͬͨ͆͊̌̇ͨ̚͠͞u̵ͥͦ̑ͧ̆͂͐̊̏̍̋̓͗ͭͫ͆́̃͊͘̕ ̛̱̳͓̠͖̕ḹ̢̧̦̬̲̟̳̉ͯͫ̊̏ͪͫ͝ͅ ̵̺̫͙̗̦̠̯̞̫̪̩͐ͭͮ̏̓͒̏͊͋̚̚͘ͅḧ̨̛̭̼̘ͤͥ̿ͫ̊ͦͧͮͮ̀̓̔͌̉̓̀̀͡ ̺͚e̷̦̤̘̯͎̜͇͚͔̱̙͖ͪ͛ͤͮͬ͆͆̾̾͂̑͆̓͜ȧ̴̋ͨ͂ͣͬ̓̆͐̾̿̐̃̒͊͌́͝ ̷͇̮̙̗͉͍r̵̜̰̣̫͙̦̻̖͕͎̘̲̗̘ͦ̋̑̀̌̎̓ͭ̚͞tͨ̅̇͛ͫͫ̆ͪ̌͋ͩ̉ͯ͊͌̌ ̴̨̢̭͚̳̦͖̻̮̬̣̮̟͓͉̪͈̍ ̷̷̫̬͈͓̞͈̞̬̹̟̯͚̹͇̩̏͋ͬ̍͛̎̑̄̽ͦ̆̔̈́̀͆ͩ̓
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