Emery Oleochemicals’ Cincinnati Plant Receives 2023 Award for Excellence in Environmental Performance from Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC)

CINCINNATI, OH, USA (May 23, 2023) - The Cincinnati Plant of Emery Oleochemicals, a global specialty chemicals manufacturer, was recently honored with an Award for Excellence in Environmental Performance from the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC). The award was presented at the OCTC 34th Annual Conference held on May 8th in recognition of Emery’s achievement of a successful site electrical outage coinciding with the local utility company’s substation overhaul.

Emery Oleochemicals LLC has been in business since 1840 and at its current 38-acre site since 1885. In 2022, Emery completed a milestone event with the successful complete shutdown and start-up of the electrical grid for the first time since the 1980s. The planning began by identifying the scope of work, then safety procedures to be followed and finally, hiring contractors to assist with performing the work. With a steady cadence of meetings through the summer, the team worked diligently to plan for as much work as could be reasonably conducted in the three days of actual outage time.  When the shutdown was completed, all the hard work paid off. The entire evolution spanning 10 days from shutdown to start up was completed successfully and with no injuries or incidents.

Projects during the shutdown included:
•    extensive overhaul of the Duke Energy main substation to update and automate switching between the two feeder paths,
•    inspection and overhaul work of 30 onsite substations, and 
•    over 50 steam/condensate projects requiring lockout/tagout and mechanical integrity reviews.  

The challenges to complete these projects included: 
•    lockout/tagout between multiple companies, 
•    over 200 contractors onsite, 
•    around the clock work, 
•    generators/lighting for projects and support personnel, 
•    maintaining fire systems, and
•    alternative emergency communications/parking and security procedures.  

“This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to have our entire plant shutdown while the local utility company did upgrades to the area’s electrical grid. The success of the outage took the efforts of hundreds of Emery employees and contractors, with special recognition for Emery’s Utilities, Safety, Electrical and Maintenance teams for their tireless efforts. This initiative also aligns with our company’s operational strategy as part of a larger ongoing effort to invest in Emery’s future by improving the reliability of the site infrastructure,” said Mark Zanoni, Regional Director, Cincinnati Operations.

To learn more about Emery Oleochemicals’ Environmental Commitment and Sustainability Vision, visit: www.emeryoleo.com/sustainability.