IT WAS THE DOCTOR'S PRESCRIPTION THAT BUILT THE PANAMA CANAL A water route through the Isthmus of Panama had been on people's minds since 1513 when Balboa walked across and found the Pacific Ocean. Four centuries later Western Civilization had acquired the skill and machinery to undertake what is probably man's largest engineering task. Earthmoving equipment alone was not enough. There was also the overwhelming problem of disease—malaria, yellow fever, even bubonic plague. Not until America was able to maintain some forty-thousand laborers in good health for seven years in a debilitating tropical environment could the vast ditch be dug. The credit goes to the U.S. Army doctor who conquered the deadly mosquito. William Crawford Gorgas didn't discover the cause of yellow fever and malaria. But at a time when only a few realized that mosquitos were the enemy, he eliminated their breeding grounds by draining swamps, installing sanitation systems, sealing water tanks and introducing the first window screens ever seen in Panama. When this meticulous 2-year campaign was over, the engineers, headed by U.S. Army Colonel George Washington Goethals, were able to attack the 267,000,000 cubic yards of swamp and volcanic mountainside that lay between
the Atlantic and Pacific. We think there is a similar lesson to be learned in meeting the State solvent emission limitations. There is no one right way for all solvent users to satisfy these requirements. Water-borne coatings, combinations of water- and solventborne coatings, incineration, solvent recovery and other possibilities all have to be considered in the light of individual users' needs and potential equipment modification. For the past 12 years Union Carbide has been analyzing these problems and their solutions, and compiling them into remarkable computer programs. Today we are not only the leading supplier of solvents: our practical experience can help users make the best technical choice of solvents for high solids and water-borne industrial finishes to reduce emissions. This is an invitation to an open and useful discussion about the problems you may have and the solutions we can offer. We think you'll soon see there's no reason why the quality of your products and the stability of your profits should be kept oceans apart.
PEOPLE PLANNING THE FUTURE. UNION CARBIDE Chemicals and Plastics
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