Aloha . I just dont understand what is the difference between Walker and Clark… Not that I want to see Walker closed but couldn’t Clark make his blanks the same way as Walker . I had thought they did… ?? Why is Walker allowed to make Blanks and Clark not??
walker fctory is in the ghetto clark was in the oc surronded by million dollar homes you guess why?
yep.walker is in a pretty rundown industrial area.clark is sitting on a property that is worth some serious$$$$and will have no problem selling it to a developer, which is probably what will happen.it’s like the farmers around here-been at it loooong before the homes started sprouting up around them.now they are fighting these homeowners over pesticides, noise etc.these folks want to buy and enjoy some of the best produce in the world, but they don’t want it growing next to them…i tell these folks then ya should have bought a house somewhere else then, as those farms have been operating there decades before the houses were built. in the long run the farmers are forced to pay big$ to stay in biz or sell-guess which one wins out??? the developer who buys the farm to build more houses…
If media reports are to be believed, the EPA and/or OC Fire Dept did not force closure of Clark. In fact, those agencies have stated that Clark was in full compliance with regs.
For whatever it’s worth…
P.O.P.E.
Howzit Hotcoat, Another reason might be that Walker blanks are polyethylene not polyurethane. But once again the EPA and fire dept did not shut Clark down Clark shut it down.Aloha,Kokua
Which is why monopolies should never be allowed 
Hey mate,
Might want to read up on the news articles regarding Clark’s closing. They make it pretty clear Clark was allowed to operate, as is Walker. Clark made the decision to shut down–he was not forced to do so.
Kokua is there any other info i can read on why clark shut his company down not the epa
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-surfboards7dec07,1,7528735.story?coll=la-headlines-business
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/December/07/local/stories/01local.htm
http://surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/clarkfoam/
http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Number=873472
http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Allocation_letter/allocation_letter.html
http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Number=872429
http://starbulletin.com/2005/12/06/news/story03.html
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yep.walker is in a pretty rundown industrial area.
Yeah Walkers not in the “Best” neighborhood, but they are surrounded on 3 sides by single family homes by measurments of feet. Thats a ridiculous statement about them being allowed by the economy, Clark is thousands of yards and a Hill away from any homes, its actually in a commercially zoned area.
It was his choice noone elses, Walker poses a much more serios health threat than Clark ever did. Especially with distance and disbursment,
Clark fumes had to travel thousands of yards before they got near a home,
Walker, has a young childs bedroom window less than 4 foot maybe from where they pour
Walker Foam is in Wilmington, CA an area near Long Beach. It’s primarily industrial, but because of mixed-use zoning there are residential areas blended in. As you view Wilmington from the 405 fwy, all you can see are smoke stacks billowing into the air from power plants/refineries/etc. As you travel down the 405 south, you’ll eventually see Clark Foam as well. There are no factories or detectable industry except for some office buildings. Clark is across the street from a Costco, 1/2 mile from a major mall, and surrounded by $800K+ homes. I don’t think that the homes another poster mentioned near Walker are in that price range or that the residents are prone to complaining about industry encroaching their space. Regardless of location, the laws are the same, but the degree of enforcement will vary. Orange County/Laguna Niguel doesn’t want any industrial properties, just high priced homes. There isn’t any doubt that a number of developers are waiting for the Clark property to hit the market. I don’t know if Gordon owns the land, but if he does all the fines, permits, etc. that he mentioned in his fax shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
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If media reports are to be believed, the EPA and/or OC Fire Dept did not force closure of Clark. In fact, those agencies have stated that Clark was in full compliance with regs.
For whatever it’s worth…
P.O.P.E.
Keep in mind, those were agency spokespersons speaking on the record. They found out what an impact Clark’s factory closing had on the surfboard industry, and may not have wanted to be made scapegoats for our industry’s supposed demise. Grubby’s letter said they were after him, they say he was in compliance. Who you gonna believe?
Hi all, new here. Thought to throw out what little I know;
Walker may not be on the most desirable block in Wilmington.
He’s been in the foam biz before Grubby ever thought bout being a force to be reckoned with.
Though Clark & Walker Foams are similar, they are different formulas.
From what I understand, Walker’s is less toxic.
Walker Himself has assured me that he is compliant with all gov agencies.
Also, They just got a plant going in China to complement their production in SoCal.
Grubby may not have been able to get some of his chemicals, due to his suppliers being hit by the Hurricanes this past season.
With years of Clark’s questionable business practices as a statement of who he is, Who would want to know or should we care why he closed?
I’d like to think, that everyone’s bigger interest would be to figure out how to keep moving ahead, so we can go surf’n.
well it is time to stop knocking walker foam they are great people and in an area zoned for industrial use ie refineries and the like. and besides most all of there blank pouring will be done in china now with wood put in in US. People may have to start actually shaping blanks into boards " craftsmen from the crapsmen".
Get a grip. There have always been other suppliers of foam . They just never Put the effort into it that Clark did. He didn’t force Foss or Rogers out of business. You could have bought foam from Walker anytime you could get them to return your call or email. Greg noll and Dave Sweet could have continued on with their foam business as well. They would have perfected their process and had a nice share of the market by now. Even now the wheels are probably spinin’ in Nolls’ mind as he visualizes those dollar signs. What it came down to was that Clark continued his R and D and perfected his product. Gary Linden and Walker have got a ways to go. If they are serious about it they can get it up to speed both in quanity and quality. The quality, variety, stringer configuration,and close tolerance of a Clark blank left any competition they had in the DUST. The addition of Gary Linden to Walker may be what makes the differance for that company. They have a HIGH standard to rise to. McDing
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Howzit Hotcoat, Another reason might be that Walker blanks are polyethylene not polyurethane. But once again the EPA and fire dept did not shut Clark down Clark shut it down
I would disagree. If it wasn’t for the OCFA & EPA, Clark would still be in business. Technically they didn’t shut his doors but saying that they weren’t responsible for it is like saying that all the biz that has left CA in recent years did so of their own accord & not because of the unfriendly biz climate. So no matter who put the lock on the doors, I believe they did shut him down.
It would be interesting if there is someone here that can shed some light upon the chemical issue & just how much less toxic Walker’s blanks are. If that is the reason Walker is still going then why didn’t Clark switch over to that formula long ago?
Another issue is the fire authorities themselves. Unfortunately [or maybe fortunately for Walker’s sake], fire codes are not enforced uniformly. The OCFA has no jurisdiction over Walker as they are in Los Angeles County. In fact, I believe Wilmington is technically part of the city of Los Angeles & not it’s own city. Kinda like Hollywood, it’s a neighborhood, not a city. This would put them under LA City FD control. I deal with multiple fire authorities in my biz constantly. The frustrating part is that they enforce the codes differently. Basically, all fire codes stem from the National Fire Protection Association [NFPA]. Local state agencies draw their own codes from this. California has tweaked the code & is generally considered the toughest in the nation. If something has the CA Fire Marshal seal on it, it will usually conform to anyone’s regs. The problem arrises in that each fire authority within the state enforces [or doesn’t enforce] the code a bit differently. Each county, even individual cities within the counties, have their own take on the code & enforce it accordingly.
What I’m getting at here is that just because OCFA has been on CLark for years doesn’t mean that LAFD is doing the same with Walker. From what I read, it was the OCFA that brought in the EPA [a federal agency] and without other encouragement or complaints against Walker, I doubt they will be involved with them just out of the blue. That is of course unless someone has got the EPA on the warpath or they are trying to justify their position for budgetary reasons 
Lance
Regardless of location or enforcement, there are many reasons why Walker hasn’t been targeted. It could be that their chemistry produces less toxic emissions to begin with.
Beyond that, perhaps Walker has invested in the newer scrubbers so their emissions are cleaner.
More likely, their production levels have kept emissions below threshold limits. Its certainly possible that going to 3 shifts + will bring emissions up to levels which require additional equipment, if not monitoring & enforcement.
But I don’t know. Just guessing really. I know what I like, but I also believe consumers should have a choice, as long as it doesn’t harm the environment.
I essentially raised this same question. Clark shut its own doors, probably from a number of long-escalating issues. It’s likely that some of these issues related to EPA, but EPA did not issue a closure order.
As I understand it, EPA’s (current) issue with Clark’s production process involved something called 2,4-/2,6-Toluene diisocyanate (TDI), see the following link http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0503.htm
Nasty stuff. Sounds like Clark threw his hands up in frustration of another EPA issue coming down the pike and elected to give up the ship.
If Walker is using a different process, he may not be using TDI. Or, EPA may simply have been focusing on keeping the biggest fish in the pond in line on the belief that the smaller fish would follow suit.
However, the situation with Walker’s location, as described in this string, disturbs me for another reason. Remeber these words, “Environmental Justice,” also known as “Environmental Equity” (EJ/EE). The concept is that low-income and minority populations should not have burden a disproportionate share of environmental harms. This is a BIG initiative nationwide with EPA. If Walker’s production facility is located 4 feet from a low income residence, as described herein, then the concepts of EJ/EE could come into play to give Walker problems if his production practices have impacts on adjacent properties, e.g. in the form of air emissions.
In the end it sounds like Clark’s operation was not “illegal” but was subject to strict regulation because of the nature of the business. With modern production practices and a good in-house environmental compliance officer it shouldn’t be a problem producing PU blanks. Anyone at Sways want to set up a corporation to buyout Clark’s name and patents and set up a new operation?
Hey Wags - I just read the posts here. Seriously man why are we not trying to find an alternative? What if anything do you (or anyone else for that mater) know about using blown Hemp as an alternative to the highly toxic - anyway you look at it its toxic - foam being used today? We can use Hemp in just about any application - it replaces petroleum based products, anything that would otherwise use molded fiberglass and the blown hemp as been used for years in molded car door panels and dash boards. Its legal to import the raw material so long as its not whats known as a viable seed. Not only that, very soon here our american farmers will be able to legally harvest Hemp and therefore we will eliminate the importing costs. All we need is the manufacturing plant and a prototype. I can get my hands on the raw material. Has this ever really been investigated???
I welcome anyone’s reply!!!
Fine by me! That last comment of mine about buying the Clark name and re-opening the factory was meant tongue in cheek, however, if it can be done safely and within the letter and spirit of the law then it is an opportunity for someone. Just like it is also an opportunity for the epoxy/eps, hollow-board, composite board and, yes, hemp crowds. If PU boards can’t be profitably produced in a manner that meets environmental requirements, then it should be a dead industry. Complying with environmental requirements is a cost of doing business and if you can’t comply and make a profit then your business is not viable.
While I don’t wish the pain of Clark’s closure on anyone, rapid change hurts. I hope that this can lead to better more environmentally sensitive products becoming more widely available at better prices with better selection. It’ll be nice to go into a shop and, eventually, have some different choices available.