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OAR Box 1384 

Prepped by Charmelle Mathews 

Document Number: 

3|2>j#Oll-E-174 

Docket Number: 

A-94-52 

Printed 7/2/2008 8:42:10 AM Sheet 214 of 264 
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ivus/a a 12:0 2 Q81 4 438 9071 MFG UC SALES 

Contact Report 

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From: 

Date: 

Contact: 

Company: 

Madeleine Strum, US Environmental Protection Agency 

Melanie Proctor, Pacific Environmental Services, Inc. (PES) 

Charles Hester, Pacific Environmental Services, Inc. (PES) 

Shawn McKee, Pacific Environmental Services, Inc. (PES) 

July 31,1998 

Mr. Perry Bennett 

Molded Fiber Glass Companies 

Telephone Number: (814) 438-3841 

Fax Number: 

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Contact Summary: 

Mr. Bennett was contacted to discuss the efforts taken by Molded Fiberglass Companies 

•Cm (MFG) to change to lower hazardous air pollutants (HAP) in their resin formulations at their 

— AdUaiiU) facility. According to Mr. Bennett, MFG has been trying to switch to lower HAP resins 

in an effort to reduce employee exposure to HAP, as well as to lower emissions from the facility. 

\Auion £CT«/ 

Mr. Bennett of MFG, stated that the resins that the Adelanto facility had been using in the 

past were isothalic resin blends with HAP contents between 50 and 58%. The Adelonte facility ^ ^-^y 

produces truck hoods that are cured, primed, and then shipped to the customer for painting and 

baking. 

According to Mr. Bennett, MFG had made significant efforts to test and use lower HAP^

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resins. The first resin tested by MFG was a DCPD resin with a HAP content of 3406OJ%. The 

process used by MFG to manufacture truck hoods requires that the hoods be baked in an oven at 

240 °F to harden so that they can withstand the painting process. Mr. Bennett stated that when the 

hoods were put into the oven, many of them sagged and had the reinforcement ribs from the back 

of the hood show through- He said that MFG continued to make truck hoods with tht 3 4%-35%3'-z- -"${'' 

HAP resin for a while, but had an increase in the number of hoods that required reworking or 

scraping. He also said that when too much rework (ie. sanding) is required, the gel coat can be 

sanded through, creating more scrap. In an effort to continue using the low HAP resin, Mr. Bennett 

said that MFG switched to a different catalyst with a price twice that of the previous catalyst, 

however, this catalyst did not work any better than the old one. He went on to say that MFG 

determined that this resin was not suitable for making truck hoods with their process, so they decided 

to-switch bade te the original rocin. ^^t^^ / T6&. /L&J^. rt-c*jbfi£<j^ j_ % 
,«»„.,. 149 an7i MFG UC SALES ^ 

11/05/98 12:03 ©814 438 9071 nrv, 

Mr. Bennett said that MFG is currently in the process of testing and using a oooond room with 

a lower HAP content than the original, but not as low as their first experimental low HAP resin. This 

resin is a DCPD resin with a HAP content o&tfj%. Although this resin is working better according 

to Mr. Bennett, MFG is still having problems with wet-out, and reinforcement ribs showing through 

after baking in the oven. Mr. Bennett explained that in order to produce sellable products with the 

3 (_, 40% HAP resin, the hoods required additional sanding after priming and oven curing. After the 

additional sanding, the hoods need to be primed a second time and another oven-curing step is 

necessary. He also said that although this DCPD resin produces a better product than the first one 

they tried, the number of returned products is still higher than with the isothalic resin, and the quality 

of their product is still lower. Mr. Bennett agreed to send dam regarding the costs of switching to 

the 4<J% HAP resin. 

Mr. Bennett added that in a further effort to reduce HAP emissions, MFG is in the process 

of experimenting with flow coaters. He said that although they are still optimistic about using flow 

coaters, they have thus far found that the flow coaters compound the rippling problem due to the way 

the resin comes out in streams instead of a smooth spray. 

In addition to trying flow coaters, Mr. Bennett said that MFG has also tried to use VSR, and 

found it to be problematic to their production process. He stated that the vapor suppressant caused 

secondary bonding problems. 

Mr. Bennett said that MFG is also experimenting with closed cavity bag molding, which they 

call the "vacmfi»n process. In this process, MFG starts with a pre-form. Thus far, however, the 

process is still problematic resulting in resin-rich areas, which shrink and crack during curing. 

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INFORMATION IS ACCURATE 

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Docket No. A-94-52 

Category II-E 

The following information is located in the confidential files of the Director, Emission 

Standards Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711. This information is 

confidential pending final determination by the Administrator and is not available for public 

inspection. 

Telecon Contact report 7/31/98 2 pp. 

M. Strum, M. Proctor, C. Hester, S. McKee with Perry Bennett discussed efforts to lower HAPs 

at-Adetenio*, CA facility 

CN-N801-18-06 

ESD 93/58 

98185-C18-06