Solvay Process Company

Cogswell, a former resident of Syracuse, was an engineer who was familiar with the natural resources of Central New York that would be available for use in process.

Knowing that American industry was importing soda ash from Europe, Cogswell envisioned utilizing the process in America.

An elevated conveyor, with buckets suspended from a cable loop, passed in a tunnel through a hill [1] [2] [3] to deliver stone from company quarries at Split Rock in Onondaga, about four miles to the south.

The Church and Dwight Company, producer of Arm & Hammer baking soda, which used material from the Solvay process, built a production facility nearby.

Coke plants were located in Ashland, Kentucky, Buffalo, New York, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Detroit, Michigan, and Ironton, Ohio.

Under Weber's tenure between 1920 and 1935, Allied Chemical was successful financially, but his control reversed the previously agreed-upon policy about company autonomy.

The Hazard family attempted to gain a controlling interest by quietly acquiring large amounts of stock in Allied Chemical.

They failed to return operations of the plant to local control or rehire personnel terminated by the new corporation, contrary to their agreement.

Large marshlands around the lake provided disposal for sludge from the process, leaving extensive "waste beds".

On Thanksgiving Day in 1943, 40,000 tons of industrial waste consisting of calcium carbonate and magnesia flooded the hamlet of Lakeland, New York.

There were no reported fatalities, but there were a few injured, such as Fred Hulbert, assistant chief of the auxiliary military police at Solvay Process, who was treated for acid burns and two frozen toes after rescuing numerous stranded Lakeland residents using a rowboat.

By 1985, the company had lost $55 million over the previous three years, forcing Allied Chemical (AlliedSignal at the time) to close and demolish the plant, dismissing 1,400 employees.