In reply to Bill Thoms; As I recall, around 1972 Mascenic science teacher T.M. decided to take his science class down to Tricnit and document their dumping of chemicals into Furnance Brook. They then wrote up a report about it which caused a big uproar in town. Pollution of local streams was a common practice in those days as the Nashua River in Fitchburg was noted for changing colors whenever the dye of the day was used at the local paper mill. Furnace Brook was basically the town's chamber pot for an untold number of years.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 was a major piece of legislation that we benefit from to this day. As for Billy Thayer his influence in town was legendary—as were his misdeeds. But I'm not going to knock him since he's no longer around to defend himself. Besides, looking into my family tree I found Thayers, so I'm perhaps distantly related.
The famous 'Darned Tough' brand of socks made in Vermont actually has its origins at Tricnit. Well sort of anyways. My father worked as a mechanic in Tricnit from about 1946 until it went bankrupt so I'll relate what I can recall. The company ebbed and flowed with the general economy after WW2. The wages were never good, but just enough to keep the locals employed there. I recall my parents relating to me how hard the French-Canadiens, mainly from Greenville, used to work. In the early 1970's the owner decided that he could expand and he hired several 'MBA' consultants (those were the days before MBA's became a ubiquitous degree) to expand the company and build a second factory in Laconia, NH if I remember correctly. For those of us old enough to recall, the early 1970's were the time of rising inflation due to the mass expansion of welfare programs and funding the Vietnam War. So one of the government's response to inflation was to begin to open up the US markets to cheaper foreign textile imports. According to a former Tricnit office manager with whom I had a detailed conversation, the combination of cheaper imports that undercut Tricnit's bottom line plus the cost of the MBA's expansion plans in Laconia finally drove the company into bankruptcy. In addition, my father related to me how the quality of finished products had declined costing the company even more as there was now such a rush to turn out products that quality control was being ignored and large amounts of finished material had to be thrown away. It finally showed up in our home in 1973 when my father and other workers went to cash their paychecks and they bounced. The owner told the flustered workers to wait one week and the cash would be there as he was due payments on receivables. This cycle of bouncing paychecks continued for several more months with the company teetering on insolvency. Marc Caron who eventually started Darned Tough, was some kind of textile consultant hired by Tricnit's owner. Apparently, he saw enough of Tricnit's books to realize that the company was in a terminal state of decline. He began to quietly try to recruit the current workers telling them that he was going to open up a new textile mill in Vermont and he was onto something big. However, I do not know if anyone ever to Marc up on his employment offer but I do remember him trying to hire my father. Finally, one day my father went into work and he was given a final paycheck and told to go get his toolbox and that was the end of Tricnit's operations. The factory sat there full of equipment but empty of workers with many of them still pining for the day that the plant would re-open and that their work routine and friendships could be renewed. Anyways, several years later a former co-worker of mine at Vanguard Manufacturing related to me that he was outside doing his chores like he did every day as he had a few animals he was tending to. He noticed a strange pickup suddenly start up in Tricnit's empty parking lot and race up the road taking off away from town which struck him as very odd. A short while later he noticed the flames and fire engines. The accumulation of dust and oil and the failure of the sprinkler system, from what I was told, were the ingredients for an inferno. In the end there was just a charred mess left. In 1980 I saw Tricnit's owner approach Seppala and Aho Construction with some preliminary plans to rebuild the company but nothing ever came of it. Meanwhile Marc Caron started his Cabot Industries plant but he was also subjected to imports and the rising costs of doing business. According to their website, his son finally hit a home run by going with the 'Darned Tough' upscale brand of socks and clothing and they continue to expand to this day.
I was part of the team investigating Tricnit's contribution to the polluting of Furnace Brook. If I remember correctly, it was part of the first Earth Day observance. I don't remember all of the details but remember talking to Bill Thayer and one other supervisor about them. The temperature of the emissions was high resulting in the death of fish and vegetation surround the site. Not sure what happened after that.
I believe that was initiated by a teacher. Naturally there was some pushback. I remember doing some water testing with Carolyn McFadden but that for the Conservation Commission.
As a young adult I briefly worked for Billy Thayer and, of course, living in town I knew of conditions in Furnace Brook. I fished for trout upstream of Tricnit but below Tricnit Rd the cement collecting pool for plant effluent with its "Danger: Deep Water" sign was a big turnoff. One Halloween I snuck down there with a can of spray paint and below "Danger" sprayed "Pollution!". The sign was taken down a couple days later.
In reply to Bill Thoms; As I recall, around 1972 Mascenic science teacher T.M. decided to take his science class down to Tricnit and document their dumping of chemicals into Furnance Brook. They then wrote up a report about it which caused a big uproar in town. Pollution of local streams was a common practice in those days as the Nashua River in Fitchburg was noted for changing colors whenever the dye of the day was used at the local paper mill. Furnace Brook was basically the town's chamber pot for an untold number of years.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 was a major piece of legislation that we benefit from to this day. As for Billy Thayer his influence in town was legendary—as were his misdeeds. But I'm not going to knock him since he's no longer around to defend himself. Besides, looking into my family tree I found Thayers, so I'm perhaps distantly related.
I recall swimming in the town pool when Furnace Brook water was piped directly into the pool....untreated.
The famous 'Darned Tough' brand of socks made in Vermont actually has its origins at Tricnit. Well sort of anyways. My father worked as a mechanic in Tricnit from about 1946 until it went bankrupt so I'll relate what I can recall. The company ebbed and flowed with the general economy after WW2. The wages were never good, but just enough to keep the locals employed there. I recall my parents relating to me how hard the French-Canadiens, mainly from Greenville, used to work. In the early 1970's the owner decided that he could expand and he hired several 'MBA' consultants (those were the days before MBA's became a ubiquitous degree) to expand the company and build a second factory in Laconia, NH if I remember correctly. For those of us old enough to recall, the early 1970's were the time of rising inflation due to the mass expansion of welfare programs and funding the Vietnam War. So one of the government's response to inflation was to begin to open up the US markets to cheaper foreign textile imports. According to a former Tricnit office manager with whom I had a detailed conversation, the combination of cheaper imports that undercut Tricnit's bottom line plus the cost of the MBA's expansion plans in Laconia finally drove the company into bankruptcy. In addition, my father related to me how the quality of finished products had declined costing the company even more as there was now such a rush to turn out products that quality control was being ignored and large amounts of finished material had to be thrown away. It finally showed up in our home in 1973 when my father and other workers went to cash their paychecks and they bounced. The owner told the flustered workers to wait one week and the cash would be there as he was due payments on receivables. This cycle of bouncing paychecks continued for several more months with the company teetering on insolvency. Marc Caron who eventually started Darned Tough, was some kind of textile consultant hired by Tricnit's owner. Apparently, he saw enough of Tricnit's books to realize that the company was in a terminal state of decline. He began to quietly try to recruit the current workers telling them that he was going to open up a new textile mill in Vermont and he was onto something big. However, I do not know if anyone ever to Marc up on his employment offer but I do remember him trying to hire my father. Finally, one day my father went into work and he was given a final paycheck and told to go get his toolbox and that was the end of Tricnit's operations. The factory sat there full of equipment but empty of workers with many of them still pining for the day that the plant would re-open and that their work routine and friendships could be renewed. Anyways, several years later a former co-worker of mine at Vanguard Manufacturing related to me that he was outside doing his chores like he did every day as he had a few animals he was tending to. He noticed a strange pickup suddenly start up in Tricnit's empty parking lot and race up the road taking off away from town which struck him as very odd. A short while later he noticed the flames and fire engines. The accumulation of dust and oil and the failure of the sprinkler system, from what I was told, were the ingredients for an inferno. In the end there was just a charred mess left. In 1980 I saw Tricnit's owner approach Seppala and Aho Construction with some preliminary plans to rebuild the company but nothing ever came of it. Meanwhile Marc Caron started his Cabot Industries plant but he was also subjected to imports and the rising costs of doing business. According to their website, his son finally hit a home run by going with the 'Darned Tough' upscale brand of socks and clothing and they continue to expand to this day.
There were no trout in Furnace Brook downstream of Tricnit when they were dumping dye water - too much pollution.
I was part of the team investigating Tricnit's contribution to the polluting of Furnace Brook. If I remember correctly, it was part of the first Earth Day observance. I don't remember all of the details but remember talking to Bill Thayer and one other supervisor about them. The temperature of the emissions was high resulting in the death of fish and vegetation surround the site. Not sure what happened after that.
I believe that was initiated by a teacher. Naturally there was some pushback. I remember doing some water testing with Carolyn McFadden but that for the Conservation Commission.
Yes, by Tom McIntyre.
As a young adult I briefly worked for Billy Thayer and, of course, living in town I knew of conditions in Furnace Brook. I fished for trout upstream of Tricnit but below Tricnit Rd the cement collecting pool for plant effluent with its "Danger: Deep Water" sign was a big turnoff. One Halloween I snuck down there with a can of spray paint and below "Danger" sprayed "Pollution!". The sign was taken down a couple days later.
Good for you and so true! The company, however, denied they were polluting the brook even when the evidence proved otherwise.
Well done Bill!