by Web Editor | Mar 28, 2016 | News
Hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators Inc. has paid the California Air Resources Board (CARB) $2.5 million to settle claims that the company sold composite wood products that exceeded California formaldehyde limits, and failed to take reasonable precautions to ensure those products met such limits.
Additionally, Lumber Liquidators has developed and agreed to implement, a “Fabricator Laminate Evaluation and Audit Program” and a “Composite Core Testing Research Program,” requiring the company to conduct regular audits of existing and new suppliers and to randomly test composite core samples in accordance with CARB’s standard operating procedure for preparing finished goods for testing.
This is CARB’s first documented enforcement action on this regulation, and it may be a sign that CARB will begin to ensure compliance more aggressively.
“The California Air Resources Board adopted the ATCM to protect the public from toxic exposures to formaldehyde from composite wood products, and we are enforcing this regulation,” CARB Enforcement Division Chief Todd Sax said. “Companies need to understand we expect compliance with our rules, and we will hold those accountable who do not comply.”
Lumber Liquidators pleaded guilty to both felony and misdemeanor charges back in October 2015. The company paid more than $13 million in fines and restitution earlier this year.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/lumber-liquidators-pays-25-million-settle-california-clean-air-claims?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Mar 25, 2016 | News
Boise Cascade Co. has received antitrust clearance from the United States Department of Justice to proceed with its previously announced acquisition of Georgia-Pacific LLC’s engineered lumber production facilities located at Thorsby, Alabama, and Roxboro, North Carolina. Boise Cascade plans to complete the acquisition by the end of March 2016.
The Thorsby facility produces laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The Roxboro facility currently produces I-joists. Roxboro’s LVL production assets are currently idled. Boise Cascade expects to invest capital and hire additional employees to increase production at these mills in 2016 and beyond to obtain significant logistics benefits as well as to meet expected growth in new residential construction. Boise Cascade believes the addition of Thorsby and Roxboro will increase LVL billet capacity by 9 million cubic feet and I-joist capacity by 80 million lineal feet.
“We are pleased to be expanding our engineered wood products business and positioning ourselves to support customers as the U.S. housing recovery continues in the years ahead,” said Tom Corrick, CEO of Boise Cascade, when the acquisition was first announced.
“The additional engineered lumber capacity at Thorsby and Roxboro fit very well with our existing production facilities and will help us cost effectively deliver products to our customers. There are tremendous opportunities to optimize our mill system, and realize freight and other cost synergies. The acquired mills are located in attractive wood baskets with competitive fiber costs and improve our ability to support high growth housing demand.”
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/boise-cascade-gets-antitrust-clearance-engineered-lumber-acquisition?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Mar 21, 2016 | News
HGTV carpentry expert Chip Wade is among judges for the 5th annual PureBond Quality Awards competition, which is accepting entries July 15, 2016.
Columbia Forest Products annual PureBond Quality Awards competition focuses on the use of PureBond formaldehyde-free hardwood plywood in woodworking projects.
To be considered for judging, each project submission must contain formaldehyde-free PureBond hardwood plywood in the construction. The winning selections will be made based on the “quality” use of PureBond hardwood plywood in a project, and must be among the 900-plus PureBond Fabricator Network members.
Users of PureBond hardwood plywood in their practice may join the PFN now and become eligible to submit entries before the competition’s deadline. Up to nine winners will be chosen by a team of expert judges covering three project categories: Residential Kitchen, Residential Other, and Commercial.
The PureBond Quality Awards are open to Columbia’s PureBond Fabricator Network (PFN) members.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/events-contests/event-coverage/columbia-forest-products-calls-entries-2016-purebond-quality
by Web Editor | Mar 18, 2016 | News
The Engineered Wood Construction Guide, APA’s comprehensive and widely recognized guide to engineered wood construction systems, has been updated and is now available on the APA website.
The 92-page guide features information on engineered wood products and recommendations for their use in a wide range of applications in residential and commercial construction. It includes information on plywood and oriented strand board (wood structural panels), glulam, I-joists, structural composite lumber, typical specifications, and design recommendations for floor, wall, and roof systems, diaphragms, shear walls, fire-rated systems, and methods of finishing.
The guide can be downloaded free of charge in PDF format or purchased in printed format for $12 at www.apawood.org/resource-library. The online offering has been enhanced with this edition to simplify the options for downloading selected chapters of the guide or the complete publication.
First published in 1962, this is the 33rd printing of the popular guide.
by Web Editor | Mar 16, 2016 | News
The fifth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) is one month away, and in addition to a range of presentations on new technologies and new mill projects in North America, the event has a heavy international flavor to its agenda.
PELICE will be held April 7-8 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It is hosted by Panel World magazine and Georgia Research Institute.
Two of the event sessions are entitled “International Developments,” and “China Transitions to a New Paradigm.”
The International Developments segment will feature:
• Engineered Wood Trends in Europe—Heikki Vidgren, Principal, Pöyry Management Consulting
• North American Plywood and Veneer Based Industry: The Reinvention Continues—Dr. Richard Baldwin, Managing Partner, Oak Creek Investments
• Engineered Strand Lumber—Challenges and Opportunities—Dr. W. Ernest Hsu, Principal, Hsu Consulting
• New Trends in the Development of Wood and Natural Fiber Based Products—Dr. Bohumil Kasil, Director, Fraunhofer Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institute
• Status and Problems of the Panel Products Industries of the Philippines—Romulo Aggangan, Director, Forest Products Research and Development Institute, Philippines
China Transitions to a New Paradigm will include:
• China Is a Global Opportunity—Dr. Fred Kurpiel, President Georgia Research Institute
• Long Road to Quality—Dr. Hui Wan, Associate Professor, Forest Composite Products, Mississippi State University
• Market Demands: Engineered Strand Products and Applications—Dr. W. Ernest Hsu, Principal, Hsu Consulting
• China: Product Developments and Innovations—Colin Folco, Key Account Manager, Dieffenbacher, USA
In addition to these subjects, PELICE session titles include: Production Technologies; Adhesives Issues & Performance; Operations Planning; Heat Energy & Emissions Issues & Technologies; Environmental Issues & Technologies; Safety Issues & Technologies; QC & Optimization.
PELICE will also feature 78 exhibitor sponsors in the Grand Ballroom North of the Omni Hotel.
For more information and to register, visit www.pelice-expo.com.
by Web Editor | Mar 11, 2016 | News
Investigators remain at the scene of an explosion at a wood products mill in Quesnel, B.C.
No one was hurt March 9 when a blast and fire damaged one side of the West Pine MDF mill, at the northern end of the Cariboo community, about 600 kilometers north of Vancouver.
Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson says the mill employs about 100 people and all the workers on shift at around 5:30 Wednesday were safely evacuated.
West Pine MDF, operated by Quesnel-based West Fraser Mills Ltd., uses sawdust and other materials to manufacture plywood-like boards known as medium density fiberboard.
Firefighters knocked down the blaze and spent the night dousing hot spots on the side of the plant where the sawdust is fed into the building. A cause of the explosion is under investigation and Simpson hopes the mill can resume operation in about a week.
From Canadian Manufacturing: https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/operations/blast-west-fraser-mills-ltd-plant-halt-production-week-164096/
