Olin Chlor Alkali Products

Where We're Located

Charleston/Cleveland, TN

Welcome to Olin Chlor Alkali Products Charleston Plant and our Cleveland, Tennessee Corporate Offices.

Facilities

Olin Chlor Alkali Products Division
Charleston Plant
1186 Lower River Road
Charleston, TN 37310-0248
423-336-4000
Customer Support (800) 251-6425

Olin Chlor Alkali Products Division
Corporate Offices
490 Stuart Road NE
Cleveland, TN 37312
423-336-4850

What We Do

Located just 30 miles north of Chattanooga, TN on nearly 975 acres of land (375 of which is developed), the Charleston plant population includes more than 220 employees.

Olin Chlor Alkali Products' Charleston Plant produces a wide range of products including: chlorine, caustic soda, potassium hydroxide (KOH), HCl, sodium hypochlorite, dilute sulfuric acid, and hydrogen. These products are vital ingredients in the manufacture of a staggering variety of products which we all rely upon as part of our modern way of life. In fact, each time you read a newspaper, use bleach in your laundry, ride in a car, enjoy safe drinking water or take aspirin to relieve a headache, you're benefiting from one or more of our products.

Cleveland, Tennessee, a few minutes' drive from Charleston, is home to the Olin Chlor Alkali Division's Corporate Offices.

Our Economic Impact

Olin Chlor Alkali's contribution to the economy of Bradley county and the surrounding areas is substantial. The Charleston plant's payroll alone is approximately $16 million annually. We purchase around $63 million in goods and services locally each year. These financial effects multiply when you consider the sales tax on these goods and services, plus the sales and income taxes paid by Olin Chlor Alkali Products' employees and contractors.

Striving To Be Good Neighbors

At Olin Chlor Alkali Products, we're not only committed to producing high quality products that help improve our quality of life, but we're committed to being a vital part of our community---to being a good neighbor. That's because our people have lived and worked in Bradley County and the surrounding communities for years. So we're committed to protecting the environment and our co-workers.

As part of this commitment, we believe in maintaining an open, honest dialogue with our community. That's why we meet regularly with our Community Advisory Panels, which are made up of a cross-section of community members who meet to discuss issues that are important to our neighbors.

Public Safety: Our Most Important Job

From research and development to manufacturing, distribution, transportation, use and disposal, we feel we need to make every stage of a chemical's life incident-free. For us, that means no incidents, no injuries-absolutely no situations that could bring harm to people or the environment.

Our employees have launched a safety improvement program based on the principles of behavior observation. This leading-edge process assures maximum employee involvement in all aspects of safety meetings, inspections, incident investigations and process reviews. Working together with Olin Chlor Alkali Products management, our employees have pledged that we will strive for zero safety and environmental incidents.

To help ensure public safety, our facility is prepared with six layers of safety and environmental protection to help prevent incidents:

Employees
Well-trained employees are our most important resource in operating our facilities and in protecting our communities.

Mechanical integrity
We regularly inspect and test all of our equipment which greatly reduces the chance of failure.

Process reviews
Conducted every five years on all systems which handle hazardous materials, as well as on all new designs prior to operation, process reviews identify things that could possibly go wrong so that these situations can be corrected and controlled.

Process controls
A variety of backup systems provide precise control of processes and maintain tight operating parameters.

Monitoring systems
Our highly sensitive detectors identify potential problems, giving operators early warning and enabling them to respond more quickly and effectively.

Emergency response
The key to minimizing the effect of an accidental release is to get the right people and equipment to the scene quickly, including both on-site and off-site emergency responders. On site, we have trained emergency responders and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's). Our emergency materials responders are trained to handle off-site incidents involving our products. The Olin Chemical Emergency Action Network (OCEAN^Ž) is available 24 hours a day at 888-289-1911 to respond to offsite incidents. And it's all coordinated with local responders using our joint training and emergency response plans.

The Risk Management Plan

The Risk Management Planning regulation was issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency in June 1996. Its purpose was to establish guidelines for identifying, reporting and communicating potential accidental releases of hazardous materials produced and stored in significant quantities. The regulation requires that facilities handling these materials submit their Risk Management Plan to the EPA by June 1999, at which time the plans will be available to the public. Olin took a proactive stance and communicate the plans directly with our communities.

If you're interested in reviewing the Charleston Plant's Risk Management Plan, please contact us or call 423-336-4000.

Location and Lifestyle

Bradley County, which includes Cleveland and Charleston, is located within a 30-minute drive of Chattanooga, Tennessee. With a population of some 80,000 residents, Bradley County is one of Tennessee's fastest growing metropolitan areas. The very temperate climate is characterized by very mild winters and warm summers; January temperatures average from 32° to 49°, while average July range from 69° to 88°.

Cleveland and Bradley County are home to a diverse range of both service industries and manufacturers, which account for the area's stable economic climate. Manufacturers represent a variety of industries, including chemicals, home appliances, and pulp and paper. And, thanks in part to aggressive economic development efforts, new companies are continually investing in Bradley County, attracted by the area's educated skilled work force, an abundance of available resources and a strategic location that places the area within a day's drive of more than half of the U.S. population.

Bradley County residents enjoy a unique lifestyle-one that provides the opportunity to enjoy the relaxed pace of life in a small or mid-sized community. Cleveland itself could be the ultimate mid-sized city; large enough to feature fine retail shopping, excellent restaurants and a full array of goods and services, without the traffic jams, crime rates and high cost of living associated with big cities.

Recreation opportunities are plentiful in and around Bradley County. The famed Ocoee River is a Mecca for whitewater rafting enthusiasts; its challenging rapids were the site for Olympic competition in 1996. Anglers flock to the region's numerous lakes, streams and rivers, where its not uncommon to nab a stringer-full of crappie, bluegill, bass, catfish or perch. For even more outdoor adventures, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is just an hour's drive away.

Also a short drive away--less than half an hour, to be specific--is Chattanooga, with its numerous entertainment, shopping and dining opportunities. This unique city, known for both its scenic beauty and its smart pattern of urban growth, was recently named by U.S. News and World Report as a "City That Works"--one of only four cities in the world to receive that distinction.

Olin in the Community

Each year, the company and its employees contribute to Bradley County and our surrounding communities, with a particular focus on projects that improve the lives of our community's families and children.

Recent examples of community efforts involving Olin Chlor Alkali Products include:

Financial support of the Bradley County Schools
Donations of more than $100,000 in computer equipment to Charleston School
Support of Junior Achievement and Project Business
Sponsorship of "Starship Discovery", two mobile science learning stations for kindergarten through sixth-grade students
Providing speakers for school science classes
Furnishing a freshwater aquatic lab for Cleveland Middle School
Financial assistance to completely update and renovate the Charleston High School science lab.

News

Click here for division news.

Community Advisory Panel

The Charleston Plant Community Advisory Panel (CAP) helps us better understand and respond to the concerns of our community. Composed of a cross-section of community members and several representatives of Olin Chlor Alkali Products, the panel meets monthly to discuss plant operations, environmental concerns, safety, emergency preparedness, community involvement, and other issues the panel decides are important. Then, the panel helps us develop action plans to address these concerns. Participants also provide feedback regarding our operations and ways to strengthen communications and build trust with the community.

To contact the CAP in your area, click here.