Clark Foam Co., one of the largest makers of foam blanks for surfboards, has ceased production and sales, company founder and owner Gordon Clark said in a letter to customers.

The company said Monday it shut down its Laguna Niguel, Calif., manufacturing plant and its Wahiawa offices. The company said it employs three workers at its Wahiawa offices, who were laid off.

In the seven-page letter, Clark said the Environmental Protection Agency recently cited the company for its handling of toxic chemicals that are used in making foam blanks.

"The seriousness of their citation could mean that I could have to go to prison and be fined an astronomical amount," Clark said.

In his letter, Clark said the firm has stopped making foam blanks as of Monday and will no longer take orders.

"I do not want to be answering questions about my decisions for the next few years," Clark wrote.

Mark Merchant, spokesman for the EPA in San Francisco, said the EPA has not issued any fines or legal actions against Clark Foam but has cited the company for excessive storage of toxic materials at its Laguna Niguel plant back in 2003.

The EPA also faulted the company for lacking adequate safeguards.

The move left surf shops and board manufacturers scrambling.

"They've been the lifeblood of the surfboard manufacturing business for 40 years" and produced perhaps 90 percent of the polyester foam blanks, said Chris Mauro, editor of Surfer Magazine, which broke the story.

The company made 700 to 1,000 blanks a day and its closure will throw hundreds of employees out of work, not to mention small-time surfboard manufacturers, Mauro told The Associated Press.

Larger manufacturers may be able to get some blanks from Australian and other manufacturers, but in the short term there will be higher prices and a shortage of product, Mauro said. "This was the last bastion of American manufacturing. ... I'm sure somebody will start up a factory in China and start importing them, but in the meantime the quality is really going to suffer."

Clark also said he has run afoul of the EPA and the Orange County Fire Authority, which alleged that the company stored excessive amounts of harmful chemicals such as toluene diisocyanate, a carcinogen.

"They simply grind away until you either quit or they find methods of bringing serious charges or fines that force you to close," Clark wrote. "When Clark Foam was started it was a far different California. Businesses like Clark Foam were very welcome and considered the leading edge of innovation and technology. Somewhere along the way things have changed."

Stephen Miller, fire captain with the Orange County Fire Authority, said he was unaware of any citations or legal actions from the fire department, which regularly inspects area businesses for safety hazards. Miller said that Clark Foam is in full compliance with local fire regulations.