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The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. with a welcome from Jen Schauble. Business Update: Tim Harrigan gave the CAP a business update. The plant delivered the operating profit in three of the first four months of 2004 and has introduced 5 new products for a total of 13 new process steps. Plant utilization for the year is expected to be approximately 59% and the plant has averaged a 98.4% quality rate year to date. The plant is looking into improving packaging and handling capabilities in 2005. Incinerator Update: Don Hoffman gave the CAP an update concerning the upgrade plan that has been approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) for the enhancement of particulate removal from the system. New electrodes are currently being installed and will be tested throughout the winter to learn the operational limits of the system. Another abbreviated test burn must be conducted by April 30, 2005 with a follow up report submitted to PADEP by the end of May 2005. Passing the test burn will indicate that our plant meets the EPA standard for particulate emissions. Pollution Prevention: Don Hoffman also presented plant wide pollution prevention initiatives to the CAP. We are currently running one process where we reduced Isopropyl Alcohol usage by 44,000 to 80,000 pounds for the campaign. We also reduced the usage of another raw material in the process by about 12,000 pounds. These reductions in raw material usage have not affected the quality of the product; cost savings have been realized by reducing the amount of raw materials purchased and waste generated. Reduction of waste generated is always desired in each process that we run. We are also currently running a second process where we are expected to recover approximately 90,000 gallons of solvent that will be sent offsite to another facility where it will be used as virgin solvent in their process. The plant has recycled approximately 19,000 pounds of scrap metal year to date. The plant is also working on new methods of treating blowdown from the cooling tower; we are expecting a 30% annual reduction in water usage, and a 70% annual reduction in waste generated. New Business: Tim Harrigan brought up the concept of holding an Open House in the late spring of 2005. This idea will be discussed more with the CAP after the plant has had the opportunity to discuss it internally. Happy Holidays to all! We will reconvene in early 2005.
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