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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
EPA: Most Texas Refineries Break Clean Air Act
May 26, 2010 4:47 am | by Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press Writer | CommentsHOUSTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency moved Tuesday to end a long-running dispute with Texas over how the state regulates emissions, including cancer-causing toxins such as benzene and butadiene, from dozens of refineries that produce a third of the nation's gasoline and billions of dollars of petrochemicals.
Nissan Breaks Ground On 1,300-Job Tenn. Battery Plant
May 26, 2010 4:25 am | CommentsSMYRNA, Tenn. (AP) — Nissan North America Inc. is breaking ground on a lithium-ion battery plant as part of its plan to build electric cars and eventually create up to 1,300 jobs in Tennessee. The battery plant at Smyrna is part of a $1.7 billion investment in the new battery plant and initial production of the all-electric Leaf starting in 2012.
J & J Promises Overhaul Of Shoddy Manufacturing
May 26, 2010 4:23 am | by Matthew Perrone, AP Business Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it has hired an outside consulting firm to help fix manufacturing problems that triggered a massive recall of children's medicines and which have drawn ire from federal lawmakers and regulators. The maker of Tylenol, Motrin and other medications laid out plans to restructure its manufacturing operations in the wake of the latest in a series of recalls that have tarnished the company's household brands.
Foxconn's Full Disclosure: We Can't Fix Everything
May 26, 2010 4:21 am | by William Foreman, Associated Press Writer | CommentsSHENZHEN, China (AP) — The head of Foxconn bowed deeply several times and apologized Wednesday for a spate of suicides at the factory that makes Apple iPods and iPhones, promising the electronics giant will try to stop more deaths. But the usually media-shy executive, Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou, cautioned there was only so much his company could do.
Maintenance Worker Dies At Okla. Lime Plant
May 26, 2010 4:19 am | CommentsMARBLE CITY, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say an employee performing maintenance on a machine at a limeplant has been killed. Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart says his office received a call about 4 p.m. Monday of an industrial accident at the U.S. Lime & Minerals Inc. in Marble City.
Congress Prepares To Quadruple Oil Taxes
May 25, 2010 5:04 am | by Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Responding to the massive BP oil spill, Congress is getting ready to quadruple — to 32 cents a barrel — a tax on oil used to help finance cleanups. The increase would raise nearly $11 billion over the next decade. The tax is levied on oil produced in the U.
Toyota Halts Lexus Sales, Waits For Replacement Parts
May 25, 2010 4:58 am | by Dan Strumpf, AP Auto Writer | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. has stopped sales of the Lexus LS sedan for about three weeks while it works to get parts to dealers to fix a problem with the vehicle's steering system, a spokesman said Monday. Toyota on Friday recalled about 3,800 2009 and 2010 LS 460 and LS 600h sedans in the U.
Electric Boat To Add 450 Jobs, Invest $55 Million
May 25, 2010 4:51 am | CommentsNORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — Officials with submarine maker Electric Boat say the company will add 450 jobs at its Rhode Island facility over the next five years, and spend more than $55 million on new infrastructure as part of the expansion of the Virginia-class nuclear submarine program. Electric Boat president John Casey said Monday that this year alone the General Dynamics Corp.
BP Responsible For Exxon Valdez Disaster, Too
May 25, 2010 4:34 am | by Naoki Schwartz, Associated Press Writer | CommentsSince a busted oil well began spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico a month ago, the catastrophe has constantly been measured against the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. The Alaska spill leaked nearly 11 million gallons of crude, killed countless wildlife and tarnished the owner of the damaged tanker, Exxon.
Toshiba Invests In American Nuclear Power
May 25, 2010 4:31 am | CommentsTOKYO (AP) — Nuclear power giants Toshiba Corp. and The Babcock & Wilcox Co. said Tuesday they will jointly invest $200 million to foster uranium enrichment technology being developed by USEC Inc. Tokyo-based Toshiba and B&W of Lynchburg, Virginia will contribute equally to the investment, which will be provided to USEC in three stages, the companies said in a statement.
GE To Build First Freshwater Wind Farm Near Cleveland
May 25, 2010 4:30 am | by Meghan Barr, Associated Press Writer | CommentsCLEVELAND (AP) — General Electric Co. announced Monday that it plans to harness the power of winds blowing across Lake Erie by developing the world's first freshwater wind farm several miles offshore from downtown Cleveland. GE and the nonprofit Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., or LEEDCo, announced a partnership to develop five wind turbines about 6 miles north of Cleveland Browns stadium.
Supervisor Hid Child Laborers In Facility Basement
May 25, 2010 4:28 am | CommentsWATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A former supervisor at a kosher slaughterhouse raided by federal agents testified Monday that when child labor inspectors toured the facility, he took two workers he thought were underage and hid them in the basement. Former supervisor Brian Griffith testified Monday against former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin, who is being tried on 83 counts of child labor violations.
China Promises Currency Reform, More U.S. Imports
May 24, 2010 5:00 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | CommentsBEIJING (AP) — China promised currency reforms Monday as it opened a high-level dialogue with Washington but said it will decide the pace and pressed for an end to U.S. curbs on high-tech exports. President Hu Jintao made the pledge at the start of the two-day meeting, apparently trying to defuse a key irritant as officials began wide-ranging talks on financial market reforms, trade and reviving global growth.
Professor: Engineers Aren't What They Used To Be
May 24, 2010 4:41 am | by Amy Rolph | CommentsEVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Adam Bruckner has noticed a disturbing trend during his 38 years as a University of Washington professor of aeronautics engineering. His tests are less rigorous. His students, less prepared. Even the format of classes is changing, morphing into something that requires less manpower and smaller amounts of state money.
Oil Boom Manufacturing Experiencing Unfortunate Boom
May 24, 2010 4:40 am | by Kevin Spears | CommentsCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Nearly a mile of newly made oil-containment boom, which provides a final and desperate line of defense against an enormous slick in the Gulf of Mexico, gets trucked out of a small factory in Cape Canaveral each day. "We're maxed out," said Sean Geary, sales manager at American Boom & Barrier Corp.
