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Flexible Foam Products Fact Sheet
  1. " In Wayne County, heavy public opposition and the threat of lawsuits that would hold up the project caused Flexible Foam to look to Archbald. Source: Scranton Times.
  2. " Flexible Foam Products ranks 13'th in the top 25 worst polluters of companies and facilities releasing the greatest amount of recognized carcinogens. Source: Sierra Club.
  3. " Flexible Foam Products is ranked by the Dept. of Health and Energy as one of the "Cancer Dirty Dozen" for toxic levels of carcinogenic emissions. Source: Dept. of Health and Energy.
  4. " Lackawanna County residents already face a cancer risk from air pollutants up to 54 times higher than what the federal standards consider safe according to an EPA assessment this year. Source: Scranton Times.
  5. " Flexible Foam Products will be transporting into our community, using in their manufacturing process and emitting into the air several know hazardous, toxic and carcinogenic substances including cyanide and toluene diisocyanate (TDI). According to the EPA, repeated exposure to TDI causes cumulative decrease in lung function. The EPA considers five of these substances to be hazardous to human health and to the environment. Three of these five are known carcinogens which even at acceptable emission levels are dangerous to humans, particularly the elderly, children, pregnant women and their fetuses, plant and water life. Source: Various.
  6. " In case of a large spill of TDI you must declare a "state of emergency" A large spill is only 10 gallons. Source: BASF Corporation TDI handbook
  7. " Flexible Foam Products has been put on OSHA's (Occupational Safety and Health Administrations) watch list of companies put on notice to fix safety and health hazards. Source: OSHA.
  8. " On July 9, 2002, Flexible Foam Products in Portage, Wisconsin was cited by OSHA for wrongly storing flammable and combustible materials - a "serious violation", and for not having a written plan in place telling employees what to do in case of an emergency. Source: Portage Daily Register.
  9. " Flexible Foam Products claims that the manufacturing process to be used in its proposed Arcbald plant is a "safer" process" - the same as used in its facility in Portage, Wisconsin.
  10. " In 2002 alone, four fires have broken out at the Portage Wisconsin facility. These fires have resulted in evacuations, responses by HAZMAT Teams and emergency medical technicians, and the "wash down" and treatment of 12 employees at hospitals for exposure to fumes from an improperly mixed batch of polyurethane foam. According to a hospital spokesperson, "toluene exposure can cause respiratory problems, affect the nervous system and cause pulmonary edema". Source: Portage Daily Register.
  11. " In response to the fire mentioned above, Jim Whisman, manager of the foam line and a 29 year veteran had this to say:
    "If the water ratio isn't just right during the transition of one foam to another, a chemical reaction can produce too much heat and begin to fume. If not caught in time, the foam can burst into flames."
  12. "These bad or hot transitions are a regular part of the foam formation process."
  13. These fuming or flaming sections of foam are "dragged outside through a nearby door and doused with water."
  14. " In one fire, the burning foam produced a dense, black smoke through which the source of the fire could only be detected with a thermal imaging camera.