Federal contract for Casting Emissions Reduction Program discontinued

Modern Casting, Oct, 2008

The Casting Emissions Reduction Program (CERP), which has been working for the betterment of the metalcasting industry since 1994, has run out of government funding to pay for air emissions testing, according to a spokesperson involved with the project.

The cooperative of metalcasters, casting industry suppliers, research organizations and government organizations was formed in 1993 to explore ways to keep the metalcasting industry up to speed with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. It received government funding from 1994 through 2007 through the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

In 2000, the group's DOD affiliation changed from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Army, but it continued to receive funding for emissions reduction projects, as well as various other technical research projects.

The CERP Program was overseen under contract by the private research firm Technikon LLC, McClellan, Calif. and continued to receive contracted federal funding through 2007.

"CERP was able to do hundreds of tests for various metalcasting suppliers, and resin and technology suppliers," said Jodie Crandell, a Technikon's Project Manager. Technikon continues to do emissions testing on a contract basis.

During its run, CERP operated out of Technikon's full 60,000-sq.-ft., fully integrated dual furnace production metalcasting facility, a small pre-production facility, several other metals manufacturing areas and an assortment of laboratories, all dedicated to testing metalcasting emissions and production methods in a real-world setting.

Technikon continues to be funded by DOD for other research project, and it will continue to perform private projects, as well.

"It was a good run," said Crandell. "It was one of the most successful public-private programs ever created." CERP reports can be accessed through the web site, which Technikon continues to maintain, at www.cerp-us.org.