Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Pollution

OxyChem to close Niagara Falls facility

by Michael McCoy
August 30, 2021 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 99, Issue 31

 

Occidental Petroleum’s OxyChem unit says it will close its plant in Niagara Falls, New York, a move that will affect 130 full-time employees and 20 full-time contractors. The plant’s main products are chlorine, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, and sodium hypochlorite. OxyChem says it tried over the last several years to make the facility viable. In the end, the firm says, it made the shutdown decision due to “unfavorable regional market conditions as well as unreasonable and continually escalating rail transportation costs.” The facility is the last operating part of a chemical complex that was built over a century ago and at various times produced plastics and chlorinated benzene and phenol. The complex was also the source of hazardous waste dumped in the nearby Love Canal—mainly while operated by Hooker Chemical, which Occidental purchased in 1968. OxyChem says an affiliated company, Glenn Springs Holdings, will oversee the Niagara Falls property after its decommissioning and will continue to manage OxyChem’s other properties in the region.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.