Volume 10, Number 3
Jun 1986

Another Disaster Recovery Service

Disaster plans for American libraries and archives usually list two or three companies that can help them with the larger tasks associated with recovery from a disaster: drying of frozen books, fumigation to arrest the spread of mold, odor removal for smoke-damaged material, and so on. The names of the companies that exhibit at conservation conferences are familiar (American Freeze-Dry, Document Reprocessors, Museum Services), but there is another company in this business that does not advertise or exhibit at conferences. Its name is so long and hard to remember (Blackmon Mooring Steamatic Catastrophe, Inc.) that they also offer a short form of it (BMS Cat), but customers tend to call then either Blackmon or Blackmon Mooring. It is a large and old company that offers a wide range of recovery services, with the emphasis on speed so that the affected organization cam get back in business with a minimal loss of time: damage appraisal, odor removal, hazardous material decontamination, hand cleaning of all interior surfaces, furniture and carpet restoration, and so on.

Blackmon Mooring also can freeze, fumigate, vacuum-dry, freeze-dry, deodorize and reproduce books and documents. They cam take the material to their plant, or bring their vacuum dryer to the location.

Apparently they have worked out their methods without much contact with conservators, because their informational packet does not address the concerns of librarians and conservators in certain respects, and it does not provide the information on a few matters that would be necessary in order to gain their confidence--for instance, the methods for fumigation, sterilization and determining whether the books are dry enough to be reshelved. Still, they have the capability and desire to meet our needs, and would welcome contact with librarians and conservators who can fill them in on matters like the necessity of disclosing the chemicals and methods used (preferably between catastrophes, when there is more time to talk). They have started getting this Newsletter.

They have regional centers in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Waterloo, Ontario, but their headquarters are in Fort Worth. The people who respond to calls from libraries and archives are at 1 Summit Ave., Suite 202, Ft. Worth, TX 76102 (800/433-2940 or 817/926-5296, both answered 24 hours a day). Tim Smith is the Project Manager/Loss Estimator and Larry Wood is the Director of Operations and Chief Engineer.