Chemical Scarring for decades. A plant in the heart of town with a dark past.
I can honestly say that in town, there are few large explores left to discover. Rewind five years ago; I was ready to embark on an epic adventure with my sister one of our last massive sites here on our own backyard.
Originally built in 1952, the Petro chemical plant employed over a thousand workers. For some, would describe the plant as being well paying, technically demanding, and had good benefits.
But early industry came with a ton of hazards and horror stories. I’m not here to sensationalize them but to bring to light; how large cooperations always tend to choose profits over safety. The by-product of creating cigarette filters, methanol, and industrial chemicals/cleaners was: leaking tail ponds, wild life deaths, explosions, zero ppe used in handling toxic chemicals – all on the list.
A union was eventually brought in to help fix said issues, but it still would maintain a shaky history until its closing in 2007.
A good 75% of the plant has been and still to some extent being demolished in stages. I was surprised to see from other explorers from years past – how much was left behind and so easily accessible after the doors were shut.
My sister and I spent a whole day roaming the halls and the sheer volume of cooperate neglect was evident. The site stands in ruins now, tagged and vandalized beyond recognition – a far cry from its former self. One can only hope the nail in the coffin finally gets hammered into this controversial site.
To see a video of the sites history and workers first hand testimonials click here.
Exploration is from early 2020.