- Home
- About Us
- Resources
- Buy America Requirements
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Buy America Requirement
- Product Illustrations & Tariff Classifications
- Imports Regulated by Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders
- Country-of-Origin Marking Requirements
- AASHTO M 306-07 Standard
- Directory of Independent Testing Laboratories
- EPA Confirms ARRA Buy America Clause Requires Domestic Production for Iron and Steel Castings
- The New York Times Exposes "Dirty" Truth About New York City's Municipal Castings
- New U.S/Canada Trade Agreement Does Not Waive The Buy American Requirement For Most Castings Applications
- Federal Agencies Issue Final Rule Implementing Buy American Requirement of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
- FAQs
- Members Only
- Contact Us
THE NEW YORK TIMES EXPOSES "DIRTY" TRUTH ABOUT NEW YORK CITY'S MUNICIPAL CASTINGS
The New York Times recently exposed a "dirty" secret well known to U.S. manufacturers of manhole covers that was right underfoot: the City of New York and many utilities serving the City are purchasing, near exclusively, municipal castings that were cast in places like India and China, that pay little or no attention to environmental and worker safety standards. These actions by America's most populated city and the utilities that service it, not only endanger the American economy but are also accelerating harm to the environment as production is shifted away from highly efficient and modern U.S. foundries – such as those owned by members of the Municipal Castings Association – to antiquated Indian or Chinese foundries that rely on labor-intensive methods that are significantly less energy efficient, far more polluting, and dangerous to workers.
Unfortunately, purchasing policies such as New York’s result in declining U.S. jobs and the exploitation of the environment and workers by overseas foundries. These policies also result in the importation and purchase of significant amounts of iron castings from places like India and China, rewarding bad actors with lucrative sales.
Members of the Municipal Castings Association produce an array of cast iron products for municipal applications in the United States. These cast products include manhole frames and covers, drainage boxes, inlet frames and grates, traffic signal boxes, street lamps and lamp posts, street lighting boxes, communications access boxes (such as those used for cable and telephone installations), and utility castings. For additional information on the Municipal Castings Association or to find a U.S. producer of castings, please contact the MCA.
NY Times Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/nyregion/26manhole.html?scp=1&sq=manhole%20covers&st=cse
Photos:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20071126_MANHOLES_FEATURE/index.html