SYRACUSE — A chemical plant in Syracuse, owned by Toronto–based Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund, is installing a new cleaning system that it says will reduce the nitrogen oxide gases in its air emissions by about 90 percent. 

The Chemtrade plant, located at 1421 Willis Ave., produces sodium nitrite, which it sells to a variety of other industries, according to plant manager Robert Amend. Sodium nitrite is used to preserve some meat products, in the manufacturing of dyes and pigments, and in the vulcanization of rubber, he says.

“It’s really effective in prohibiting corrosion in cast iron and steel,” Amend says of sodium nitrite, adding that much of the equipment used in the plant is still in good condition as a result. The plant produces the chemical compound in a variety of grades and packaging, in both crystalline and solution form, he adds.

Chemtrade is investing more than $4 million in its new cleaning system, which is comprised of a catalytic converter, fans, heat exchangers, and piping, according to Amend. The system, custom-designed for the Syracuse plant, will have a footprint of about 300 square feet.

The plant has multiple buildings, situated on a 15-acre plot, totaling about 260,000 square feet, says Amend. It is staffed by 32 full-time employees.

The cleaning system uses selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to convert most of the plant’s nitrogen oxide gas emissions — comprised of two gases, nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide — to their water and nitrogen components, according to Amend.

Chemtrade first put the SCR project into motion in 2014, shortly after it acquired the plant in January of that year when it bought General Chemical, the plant’s previous owner, says Amend.

The purchase price for General Chemical, which operated 45 plants and had more than 500 employees at the time Chemtrade acquired it, was $860 million, according to a Chemtrade news release announcing the deal in late 2013.

The SCR cleaning system is expected to be installed and fully operational in the Syracuse plant by the end of 2015.

The cleaning system is a result of Chemtrade’s commitment to the Responsible Care initiative, according to Amend. The initiative is a condition of the company’s membership in the American Chemistry Council.

The Responsible Care initiative is “a global voluntary initiative of the chemical industry and a unique ethic for the safe and environmentally sound management ofchemicals,” Amend explains in an email to CNYBJ, adding that it “also guides companies towards environmental, societal, and economic sustainability.”

Chemtrade was also asked by New York to clean up its emissions in order to be granted a renewal of a state-issued license that allows the company to discharge the nitrogen oxide gases, according to Amend.

The SCR cleaning process will not have a detrimental effect on the efficiency of the plant, he says, adding that it will require continued maintenance, supplies, and utilities to remain operational. Amend declines to disclose those operational costs, or the plant’s financial information.

The Syracuse plant is the only facility in the Western Hemisphere that exclusively produces sodium nitrite, according to Amend. Competing facilities in the country produce the chemical as a byproduct, collect it, and then sell it.

Chemtrade Logistics has more than 70 locations across the globe, according to its website, and about 1,200 employees.

Other than sodium nitrite, Chemtrade Logistics’ facilities produce sulfuric acid, inorganic coagulants for water treatment, liquid sulfur dioxide, sodium hydrosulfite, and phosphorus pentasulfide, in addition to providing spent acid processing services, according to its website.

The Chemtrade Syracuse plant released 15,161 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air or water in 2013, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. EPA toxic release inventory program. The plant was owned by General Chemical that year, prior to its acquisition by Chemtrade.

Chemtrade reported 2015 second-quarter earnings of $338.8 million U.S. (compared to $310.1 million over the same period in 2014), bringing its 2015 total to $664.8 million (versus $576.2 million in 2014). It attributes the improvement primarily to “the positive impact of the stronger U.S. dollar on U.S. dollar denominated revenues,” according to a company news release issued Aug. 12.

Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.