Treaters Share Their Plans

(Continued from page I 2) tives. It now uses eight different treatments, most recently adding TimberSaver PT (borates). Bond emphasizes that Permapost is not tied to the housing industry, mostly treating wood for bid work and government projects. He adds, however, that even though their CCA treatments are for industrial applications, "we may put in an alternative at some time and drop CCA because it's becoming associated with the whole playground issue."

Royal Pacific Industries (McMinnville, Or.)

"We have been transitioning to borates for some time," says Michael VonPinnon. "We've been phasing out CCA for the last four or five years. Currently CCA is only l57o to 2O7o of our business. We'lI be out of CCA all together by the end ofthis year, and strictly 1007o borates."

The product is marketed as TimBor in California, and Hi-bor and Advance Guard in Hawaii.

Shollenbarger Wood Treating Co. (Bernalillo, N.M.)

Ken Salisbury says that the company is looking to switch its one cylinder to either ACQ or borates in the near

Fence Treaters HitBy Phase-Out

The wood preservative manufacturers' request to the EPA for a voluntary reclassification of CCA to exclude non-industrial uses has left dozens of treaters on the fence, literally.

Most vulnerable may be small treaters that specialize in large diameter round fence posts. Even though they're intended for agricultural uses, the chemical companies' proposal to the EPA would not allow such posts to be treated with CCA after December 31, 2003.

The phase-out hits these treaters particularly hard since they often use inexpensive species of wood to stay competitive with steel post producers. Since the preservative, therefore, is a considerable percentage of their material cost, a significant price increase could price them out of business.

"Believe me, if I could get another dime for a fence post, I'd already be getting it," says James Stovall, B&M Wood Products, Homerville, Ga., a small treater whose fate may hinge on the ruling.

EPA set a March 25 deadline to accept public comment on the reclassification proposal and, according to Arch's Huck DeVenzio, "the EPA has indicated a willingness to listen. It would be a change from what the chemical companies agreed to do, so it would take a grassroots effort to prove that these products are more industrial than residential. They are not sold through retailers, but direct to fence contractors or ranchers or through ag supply stores."

EPA's Debra Edwards, however, said she expects the EPA to decide on the proposal "fairly quickly," and that it would take much proof of undue hardship to convince EPA to ask the chemical companies to revise their proposal. "The problem here is we didn't ask for (the reclassification), the chemical companies did," Edwards said. "They selected which wood types would be included, and they should be the ones to amend it."

future. Salisbury emphasizes that Shollenbarger has an exclusive distribution agreement with Capital Lumber, so any final conversion decision will involve input from Capital.

Superior Wood Treating/lVlanke Lumber (Sumner,

Wa.)

Superior has been treating Douglas fir with ACQ for the last two years. Sales mgr. Tom Cleary says that 2OVo of his wood is currently treated with ACQ. By the end of this summer, he expects to have two cylinders treating ACQ and one still with CCA. Superior hopes that after the conversion, 807o of its wood will be treated with ACQ.

Cleary says, "I've spent a fair amount of time on the phone over the last month explaining to customers what the ruling is and how Superior plans to handle the transition." He adds: "I'd like to be cleaned out of CCA by the end of the year."

Thunderbolt Wood Treating (Riverbank, Ca.)

Thunderbolt treats with ACZA, Natural Select, CCA, ACC and copper citrate, and according to Elizabeth Hart Gryskiewicz, the company will continue to serve its customers in any way that it can.

Universal Forest Products (Grand Rapids, Mi.)

The nation's largest wood treater will soon unveil a branded line of treated wood products because, according to Scott Conklin, v.p.-wood preservation, "we foresee a variety of different preservatives becoming specialized for special applications. Over the last 30 years, we've enjoyed the luxury and simplicity of having one product that seemed to do everything. CCA could be used for anything from bulkheads to Permanent Wood Foundations to the spindles for a deck."

Over the next two to five years, Conklin predicts that the new generation of preservatives, as well as yet-to-emerge products will gain favor for diverse applications. "In all that, there's a real danger of the consumer getting confused," he says.

Universal is already running ACQ at one facility that does not specialize in big box accounts (Hamilton, Oh.), and is installing a second cylinder at that location. Customer demand will determine the timing of other conversions.

Last year, Universal also began partnering with L.L. Brewton's Winnfield, La., treating plant, which in January converted to borates as part of a $2 million facility-wide renovation. V.p. Kelly Waxley says the operation still has some CCA left, but expects to use it up.

Utah Wood Preserving (Woods Cross, Ut.)

Robert Moore says that for Utah Wood "it is too early to react. We're just hanging on to see what happens." Moore says that the company is seeing if there will be any further exemptions as his company treats a fair amount of fence materials. Moore emphasizes the company has no conversion plans now, but is considering switching one cylinder to CBA at a future date.

Western Wood Preserving Co. (Sumner, Wa.)

According to v.p. Tom Stumpf, the company has no immediate plans to switch either of its cylinders to an alternative preservative. "Very few customers have asked for non-CCA products," he says.