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• Portion of the Gastonia Firestone
Textiles Company equipment installed in
1972, to capture and clean smoke and fumes
at one of the largest cord-treating units in
the textile-rubber industry. The huge elec
trostatic precipitator is the first of its kind
to be operated in the tire fabrics field. A
similar unit will be installed at the di-
LAST YEAR
Pollution-Control Projects
An irrigated electrostatic precipitator installed last
year at Gastonia was among major pollution-control
projects completed in 1972 at six of The Firestone Tire
& Rubber Company’s domestic manufacturing plants.
The projects are part of
the company’s continuing ef
fort toward clean environ
ment in and around its facili
ties.
The cleaning unit in No. 8
fabric-treating plant at the Gas
tonia Firestone Textiles Com
pany location, is a first in the
rubber-textile industry.
With the new equipment, fine
dust particles from drying op
erations are captured by hitting
them with small droplets of
water—first, to slow them down
and then to allow them to com
bine with other collected par
ticles.
Plant engineer J. G. Tino Jr.,
further explains that these par
ticles are then electrostatically
struck by a 60,000-volt charge
and are collected on an op-
positely-charged plate.
The clean water is separated
and recirculated through the
system and the contaminants
that are removed as a sludge.
According to Tino, the unit
operating at peak, delivers 99
percent pollution cleanup. Final
emissions released to the en
vironment are in the form of
invisible water vapor and car
bon dioxide.
Testing on the unit began last
July and a number of changes
and adjustments were made be
fore the installation was operat
ing efficiently.
Construction of a similar in
stallation is planned at the Fire
stone Textiles Company plant
at Bowling Green, Ky. A large
• • It is the consumer for whom goods and services
are produced. The producer must provide in goods and
services that which consumers demand for their
'money's worth.' So, when it comes to products and
services, quality is always a priority demand of the
customer.
GASTONIA
NORTH CAROLINA
FEBRUARY
1973
BENNEHSVILLE
SOUTH CAROLINA
BOWLING GREEN
KENTUCKY
☆ ☆ ☆
vision’s fabric-treating facility at Bowling
Green, Ky.
The components isolate solids or particu
lates, cleaning them in a washing process,
to release emissions complying with stand
ards of the Federal Environmental Control
Agency.
21,765 ^Good Ideas’
Gastonia’s Firestone Textiles Company plant was
among the leading five diversified products facilities
of The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company for the num
ber of ideas submitted in the company’s worldwide
suggestion program during 1972.
treating unit for processing
Fiber B fabric is being built at
Bowling Green.
The Firestone Company’s
other major pollution-control
projects accomplished last year:
• A multi-million-dollar rub
ber processing system at the
company’s Los Angeles, Calif.,
plant. The system prevents
dust-fine particles of carbon
black from floating into the
plant.
• A special control system to
separate storm and industrial
More page 4 •
Employees of the NC
headquarters plant in the
textiles division turned in
524 suggestions for the fiscal
year ending Oct. 31.
In the parent company’s total
suggestion program for 1972, a
record 21,765 “good ideas” came
from employees.
Suggestions for fiscal 1972 in
creased 44 percent over the 15,-
035 ideas submitted in 1971.
The company adopted 5,075
suggestions during 1972, up
nearly 36 percent from the 3,737
put into effect the year just be
fore that.
Akron Plant 1 led Firestone’s
North American tire plants in
suggestions submitted, with 1,-
583 ideas. Others in the top five
tire facilities were Des Moines,
Iowa, 1,464 suggestions; Dayton,
Ohio, 1,230; Akron Plant 2, 1,-
164; and Albany, Ga., 1,147.
In Firestone’s diversified
products plants, employees at
the Hopewell, Va., synthetic fib
ers plant led in the number of
ideas submitted, with 737 sug
gestions.
Besides Gastonia (textiles) in
the leading five diversified
products plants, top suggestion
records were Wyandotte, Mich,
(steel products), 451; Lake
Charles, La. (synthetic rubber),
375; and Orange, Texas (syn
thetic rubber), 332.
LARGEST AWARD of the
year went to Grace Fagan, Ak
ron offices of Firestone Inter
national, who received $10,000
for her suggestion concerning
More page 2 •
—iiilif
■: ■ HBMt : i.
Four Retired
GASTONIA
To travel, work at part-time jobs, develop hobbies
and other interests, and to do other things that have
had to wait through the years. Such were in the
plans of four persons who ‘graduated’ from long
careers at Firestone, Gastonia, in January and early
February.
Of these retired. Myrtle Bradley Collette of Main
Office had the longest service record: 37 years and 6
months.
Next was Clarence W. Donaldson of TC Twisting,
with 36 years, 8 months; followed by Bertie Styles
of TC Weaving, with 36 years.
And Jack Wellmon, Warehouse (shipping) had 22
years and 5 month’s service.
m.mt
The season's first snowfall which came to the
Carolinas and other parts of the Mid-South
January 7, brought along the usual winter-won-
derland look. But the freezing temperature and
snow of around six inches deep meant travel in
conveniences for almost a week.
One
Way
To
Come
To
Work
IN
THE
SNOW
Some Firestane people walked to work. Some
didn't make it at all. Others did some mode-of-
travel substituting.
James G. Burr of Methods-Standards made it
to and from his job quite well, before any shovel
ing, plowing or melting had been done.