Unintended Consequences - surfing
Environmental regulations have forced a manufacturer to close their shop.
The BBC has the news:
Wave of despair hits surf world
The sport of surfing is in turmoil after the world's largest producer of the foam blocks used to make surfboards closed down, citing over-regulation.
Polyurethane foam "blanks" produced by California-based Gordon Clark are used to make many of the world's surfboards.
Mr Clark, who helped invent the modern all-foam surfboard, says environmental regulations forced him out of business.
Fears of a global foam shortage have led to a sharp rise in board prices as surfers snap up already depleted stock.
Mr Clark, known as "Grubby" among surfers, revolutionised the sport in 1958 when he and fellow pioneer Hobie Alter coated a shaped foam block in resin to create an all-foam surfboard.
Previously, surfers could only use wooden boards which often snapped under the force of giant waves.
And the reason:
Now 73, Mr Clark announced his decision to bow out of the industry amid rising concern among local and state authorities about the chemicals used to manufacture the foam blanks.
He outlined his problems in a seven-page letter to his customers, who include hundreds of small surf shops and family businesses throughout the US.
"For owning and operating Clark Foam, I may be looking at very large fines, civil lawsuits, and even time in prison," Mr Clark wrote.
State authorities in California and in Orange County, where Clark Foam is based, are concerned by the company's machinery and its use of toxic chemicals.
The
company web site has no mention of this but the web presence is generally the last thing to be taken care of in situations like this.
Crap!
Posted by DaveH at December 9, 2005 8:56 PM