When Bobby Brown of Bell Boy Cleaners was told hehad to remove perc from downtown Fredericton, NB, hehad a choice: He could retire and close up shop, or hecould lay the foundation for a whole new generation of growth for Bell Boy. He chose the latter, and in theprocess he set an example of how to turn a potentialbusiness disaster into a stepping-stone to further success.

A CITY IN MOTIONFive years ago, the city of Fredericton publicized its plansto move certain types of businesses out of the down-town area. The city is built directly over the most sensi-tive part of its aquifer. This is where the city receives themajority of its drinking water. Maps of the undergroundwater supply showed there were zones farther out of thecity where an accidental spill of various chemicals wouldnot be disastrous to the aquifer, allowing more time toeffect emergency cleanup. In addition to dry cleaners,the city also plans to have gas stations and other busi-nesses that use chemicals considered hazardous to theaquifer move to less sensitive areas. It will also requirethe removal of all heating oil tanks from hundreds ofdowntown homes.

GOING PROACTIVEBobby and his son, Neil, decided not to wait until thedeadline drew near to take action. Their main competi-tor, Norge Cleaners, would also have to move. The own-ers were nearing retirement age and would not be inter-ested in building a new production facility. Bobby andNeil decided to enter into negotiations to purchaseNorge Cleaners. They then went to the city to lay theirplan before the mayor and councillors.

ment, as well as more newequipment down the line.

• A 59-HP Cleverbrooks boiler.• Off ice space and a ca l loffice.

• An ozone room.• Numerous details to keepemployees happy and pro-ductive.

THE HEART OF THE COMPANYThe heart of any company is itsemployees, and Bell Boy workshard to keep them happy.Some have been with the com-pany for decades. The newplant features a window nextto every finishing station, aswell as one at the spottingboard to assist with real-worldlight for spot removal. A 90-ft.-long, ceiling-height

fabric air sleeve with a hugeblower can cool and changeout the air in the laundry andfinishing areas in a matter ofminutes. Some long-term

272006 March/April FABRICARE CANADA

planting the future

by Becca Anderson

Top: Owners with Lavanett installers. From left: Neil and BobbyBrown, Earl Eichen and Magella Blais of Lavanett in front ofContinental soft-mount washers.

• Bell Boy would attempt tobuy Norge Cleaners.

• They would build a largeplant in the least sensitivezone to do all the processingfor their seven combinedlocations, plus five agentdrop stores.

• They would switch from percto hydrocarbon (DF2000)solvent with the most up-to-date equipment.

Bobby and Neil felt comfort-ab le approach ing the c i tyfathers with their plan becausethey had cultivated positiverelations with them over manyyears. Bell Boy has been inbusiness since 1967. Capitaliz-ing on the strength of theirrelationships, they receivedapproval and a subsidy to helpwith the move. Though i twould equal far less than 10%of the total cost, it was a wel-come affirmation.

BUILDING THE FUTUREFew dry cleaners have the lux-ury of recreating their plantfrom scratch. Starting with apiece of graph paper and adream, Bobby met with EarlEichen of Lavanett to roughout an ideal layout. It’s amaz-ing how close the final blue-prints are to that quick sketch.The building includes:• 10,500 square feet of space.• Firbimatic 80-lb and 60-lbhydrocarbon dry cleaningmachines.

• Firbimatic 15-ton and 10-ton air-cooled water chillers.

• New laundry equipmentincluding Continental 255-lband 130- lb sof t-mountwashers with ti lt mecha-nisms, 20-lb washer-extrac-tor, three 175-lb and one25-lb gas-heated dryers, androom for exist ing equip-

1. Downtown location was a formerfirehouse.2. New 10,500 sq. ft. industriallocation.

BELL BOY CLEANERS

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employees who live far fromthe new plant are picked updaily in a company vehicle anddriven to and from the plant. Finally, a first for a Firbimatic

chiller, the fans for the chillingunit were engineered to be out-side the building (necessitatingan on-site Italian engineer toinstall it) to reduce heat andnoise in the plant.“Our employees seem to

enjoy work ing at the newplant,” Neil Brown said. “Weare more of a team. The oldplant was downtown, andemployees scattered duringtheir breaks and lunch hour.The new plant is in an industrialpark with few distractions near-

by. This has resulted in our staffspending more time together,and has invigorated the team.

A GROUP EFFORTSuppliers have played a keyrole in the creation and installa-t ion of the new p lant .Lavanett’s Ear l E ichen andMagella Blais, with their Italianengineer, A ldo Damine l l i ,installed the new dry cleaningmachines and the ch i l le r.Lavanett also suppl ied theContinental dryers and soft-mount washers, and expertiseto get them all on line.TrevorHolmes of Seitz worked withthe new dry cleaning machines’detergent regimen and helpedthem through the inevitablelearning curve associated witha solvent change. EnviroCheminstalled Knight ChemTrak Jr.equipment – a first in Canadaas far as they know. The sys-tem is a multi-washer chemicalcontroller.“With every new application

there are growing pains,” Neiladmitted. “That being said, ourdry cleaner Peter Doucet enjoysthe new dry cleaning machines.He is very diligent about main-

tenance of the machines, whichis vital. The hydrocarbon ismore forgiving than perc. Wenotice a positive difference withhousehold items – far superiorto perc. There is more spottinginvolved with hydrocarbon, butour reruns are not much differ-ent than they were with perc.Down-filled items take longerto dry, though.”Bell Boy is also fortunate to

have its own in-house ‘wizard’,Bruce Wilbur. He was involvedin the construction of the build-ing and the installation of theequipment, yet is also able tokeep the company’s computersystems funct ioning andaddress any equipment break-downs.

SUCCESS IS SWEETBell Boy moved into its newplant in mid-December withouta day of downtime. In January,Fredericton became the firstcity in Canada to eliminate percas a dry cleaning solvent. Whatat first appeared to be a com-pany-ending cloud has turnedout to have a huge silver lining.“Our new bui ld ing has

helped our productivity and the

28 FABRICARE CANADA March/April 2006

Above: Each finishing station has itsown window.Top: Happy staff on opening day. Atleft, front row: Willa Carroll and LisaDaigle. Back row: Stacey Foulkes,Norma Brown, Georgina Gaudet,Dika Kadiric, Meliha Limani, LindaThomas, Li Jintang and Tina Martin.

• CLEAN canada 50#2_• CLEAN canada 50#2 11-06-17 12:52 PM Page 28

qual i ty of our work,” Nei lBrown said. “We have muchmore space compared to theold plant, which creates vastefficiencies for us. Combiningthe two plants into one hasresulted in less labour requiredfor processing. It’s a superiorworking environment.”This move and conversion

was poss ib le because of aproactive attitude on the partof Bell Boy Cleaners, the city ofFredericton and the supplierswho supported the effort. Fred-ericton has a long way to go tocomplete its plan to removepotential hazards from the areaof the aquifer, but Bell Boy haspaved the way for all who fol-low. ■

Briefly it is a disposal facility for perc waste, andone of all-too-few straight arrows in this field.Because of the way in which it was conceived, con-structed and licensed, its customers have been savedthe nightmare of lawsuits and government investiga-tions that less-controlled operations have created.

So you still don’t know Extox? If you live anywherein Canada, from Ontario to the Pacific Ocean, ormany places in the U.S., as far away as Florida, yourperc waste may ultimately be processed by this com-pany.

THE BIG IDEABut let’s go back to the beginning – and that means1992, before Canada was fully aware of environ-mental problems with perc. Robert Keyes, anOntario-educated chemist, attended an environmen-tal meeting in Texas. Here he learned about thepotential problems surrounding perc waste disposal.Bringing this information back to his brother

Artur, also a chemist, the two set to work develop-ing technology to deal with the problem.

By 1994 they had received agovernment grant plus a smallbusiness loan to cover the costof building and installing theequipment needed to reclaimand recycle hazardous wastecontaining perc from the drycleaning industry. What’smore, they had received a per-mit from the Ontario Ministryof Environment and Energy,which stated that cartridge fil-ters treated in the specialExtox sparging process were100% recycled. The signifi-cance of this permit is thatcartridge filters no longer hadto go to the hazardous landfillsite near Sarnia, but could beshipped to a s tee l mi l l torecover the steel, while thereclaimed perc was sold toindustrial plants.

SUPER SPARGING UNITSThe three red sparging unitsshown here hold 12 filterseach, as they are subjected to280ºF live steam for 30 min-utes, followed by a 20-minutecool-down period in whichvacuum action forces the percout of the cartridge. Typicallya cartridge gives up 1.5 litresof perc after this process. Thisi s in addi t ion to the percrecovered by the dry cleanerbefore the cartridge was dis-carded. The recovered percpasses through three filters toremove water, and is then soldto industr ia l accounts asreclaimed perc.Still bottoms and separator

water are also recycled atExtox. The residual sludge iseither sent out for furtherrecycling or used as a sec-ondary fuel for cement kilns.

NOTHING LEFT BEHINDThe bottom line is that nohazardous waste remains atExtox – in any form. Whichmay seem to be an obviousfact, but it is a very importantone, because the temptation to

292006 March/April FABRICARE CANADA

1. Left to right: Councillor TonyWhalen, Mayor Brad Woodside,congratulate Bobby and Neil Brownon their new plant.2. Giles Bordage of EnviroChemicals installed Knight ChemTrak Jr. multi-washer chemical feedsystem, said to be the first inCanada.3. Firbimatic engineer Aldo Daminelli,from Italy, on left with Bruce Wilbur– headed up the team that installedthe dry cleaning machines.

by Marcia Todd

EXTOX is a Canadian Treasure

What is it, and why is it important?

Top: Artur Keyes holds plaque of appreciation from the Regionof Peel for the contribution that Extox has made to a cleanenvironment.

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