At the Jan. 13 WNC Regional Air Quality meeting, the agency approved a permit modification for Day International, Inc. dba Flint Group, a fabricated rubber and urethane manufacturer that makes products for the printing industry.
The modification allows the Arden-based facility to use a spreader to apply solvent-based coatings. Currently, the facility only applies water-based coatings on its products, which include lithographic printing blankets and sleeves, flexographic printing sleeves, digital printing sleeves, business machine ink rolls and corrugated cardboard cutting mats.
Rather than continuing to use the water-based coatings, Flint Group is switching nine out of 10 spreaders to use a toluene-based rubber cement, which reacts with the atmosphere, creating ozone during solvent evaporation from the application of the rubber cement-coated yarn, from coating mix preparation and application and from surface grinding on the finished sleeves.
With the help of carbon absorbers, which capture and recycle the toluene emitted, the facility stays well under the 250-ton emission limit, says Air Quality Supervisor Victor Fahrer. The facility has no history of violations.
“You can’t eliminate pollution,” says Vice Chair Dean Kahl about the company’s effective way of reducing its pollutants. “But you can minimize it.”
Another approval at the meeting was for the Neo Corporation, gaining the agency’s go-ahead for various new equipment: a crusher, screen, conveyor belt and generator. The company is currently working on-site crushing concrete at the old Isaac Dickson Elementary, which caught fire last month. The fire had no effect on workers’ progress. Because of the fire’s location on the campus, crews were actually able to continue work on a separate building at the time of the fire, according to air agency Director David Brigman.
All issues presented to the board were approved unanimously, including a permit change for Delkote Machine Finishing, allowing the facility to change in source classification from synthetic minor to small, and a permit update for Kearfott Guidance Navigation Corporation to incorporate federal requirements that occurred in 2012.
Chair Britt Lovin also reminded attendees of the meeting that Air Quality Awards season is upon WNC. The deadline to nominate businesses and agencies for awards is Feb. 21. After that time, the advisory council will decide which facilities earn which awards. An awards ceremony will be held in May.
Let’s hope they continue to work to keep our community and environment as clean as possible!