Florida is the only Red State I know of where it's possible to surf.
Posted on 12/06/2005 10:37:05 PM PST by BurbankKarl
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - Clark Foam, which held a virtual monopoly on the manufacture of blank forms used to create the world's surfboards, has closed its doors because it has violated pollution and safety regulations and would need millions of dollars to comply in the future, its owner said.
The company, a pioneer in the design and production of polyester boards, announced Monday that it was closing immediately.
That left surf shops and board manufacturers scrambling.
"They've been the lifeblood of the surfboard manufacturing business for 40 years" and produced perhaps 90 percent of the polyester foam blanks, said Chris Mauro, editor of Surfer Magazine, which broke the story.
The company made 700 to 1,000 blanks a day and its closure will throw hundreds of employees out of work, not to mention small-time surfboard manufacturers, Mauro said.
Larger manufacturers may be able to get some blanks from Australian and other manufacturers but in the short term there will be higher prices and a shortage of product, he said.
Local surf shops reported raising their prices, in part to prevent hoarding by people who apparently planned to make a quick buck by selling the boards on eBay.
"We've had several calls saying "Can I buy 12, can I buy 15?," said Jefferson Wagner, owner of Zuma Jay Surfboards in Malibu, where the price for a polyurethane-core board was up $100.
"I think it's going to be much higher than that in a few weeks because there won't be any more," he said.
Some blanks may come from Asia but there is not a big industry there and anyway it will take time.
"It's four to six weeks on a ship and then a couple of weeks in customs," he said.
Wagner said he had about 200 boards in stock and perhaps 50 to 100 more available.
"Then it's dead time. Out of business," he said.
"This was the last bastion of American manufacturing," Mauro said. "I'm sure somebody will start up a factory in China and start importing them but in the meantime the quality is really going to suffer."
Surfboard maker Rusty Preisendorfer in San Diego said he is trying to patch together a list of suppliers but expects he may have to temporarily lay off some workers and make fewer boards.
He said the end of Clark Foam could mean the loss of hundreds of jobs, ranging from surfboard crafters to those who sell accessories.
"There is going to be a significant ripple effect," he said.
In a Monday letter to customers explaining his closure, owner Gordon Clark said he has increasingly been in trouble with state and local government.
"They simply grind away until you either quit or they find methods of bringing serious charges or fines that force you to close," Clark wrote.
"For owning and operating Clark Foam I may be looking at very large fines, civil lawsuits, and even time in prison," he wrote.
He had no immediate plans to reopen the business.
"My full time efforts will be to extract myself from the mess that I have created for myself," he wrote.
"When Clark Foam was started it was a far different California," Clark wrote. "Businesses like Clark Foam were very welcome and considered the leading edge of innovation and technology. Somewhere along the way things have changed."
Clark said that he has run afoul of local, state and federal fire and environmental agencies for releasing chemicals into the air, including toluene diisocyanate, a carcinogen, and more than two tons of styrene fumes per year.
The company also has safety issues.
"Our official safety record as an employer is not very good," he wrote. "We have three ex-employees on full Workman's Compensation disability - evidently for life. There is another claim being made by the widow of an employee who died from cancer. According to the claim, the chemicals or resins at Clark Foam caused the cancer."
Gnarly story, dude.
Dude should move his business to a red state, dude.
Cool. Maybe the professional beach bums will have to go get a real job.
Hang 10, dude!
Sorry, but this is a bunch of Crap. The surf industry tends to be the most active in keeping our beaches and local waterways clean for the prevention of pollution. The SurfRider Foundation does monthly beach clean ups at beaches all over the nation and have done wonders for keeping then clean.
I'm no environmental wacko. But i know the good they do.
They remind me of a beach preservation group which is much like a waterfoul and wetlands preservation group.... Ducks Unlimited.
And FYI... these aren't beach bums. I'll bet that the southern california surfing community makes way more than the states national average. They all all middle, upper-middle, and upper class men, women, and children.
Shutting down Clark Foam is only going to move more jobs overseas and put hard working Americans who have ran this company for like 40+ years out of business.
Pathetic.
Florida is the only Red State I know of where it's possible to surf.
oh, there was a source in Contra Costa...but that would have required an excerpt.
The state has now decided that it is economically beneficial to sue businesses rather than encourage them.
This could be a very good business opportunity for somebody.
Sorry FRiend, but I have ZERO sympathy for any resident and/or business owner in the Peoples Eco-Wacko, Butt-Banditry Republik of Kah-leeeee-forn-ya.
Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.
Well, I wonder if moving to Arizona would help, or are there laws strict now?
I say China....maybe the guy can skip.
Nah. Florida, Georgia, etc. Places where you can actually get in the water without a wetsuit ;)
we have beaches in Texas too, but the drilling wells and cargo ships might hamper the surfing
"We don't need businesses in Kah-leeeee-forn-ya. We have federal tax dollars."
You have obviously never spent one second with a shaper or a glasser. They are true artisans who put in harsh hours surrounded by incredibly unhealthy materials. Think of a sculptor working in a coal mine and you will be close to understanding what these "bums" do day in and day out.
The Chinese could buy the business, and sell the blanks at Wal-mart.
"This could be a very good business opportunity for somebody."
China will be shipping us our blanks in no time at all.
I wasn't talking about the makers... I was talking about the end-users.
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