On Nov. 3, a bike ride took me past this vacant parcel on Ferry Street in Albany, where a chemical manufacturing plant is being proposed.
The City of Albany’s planning division is reviewing a site plan for a new chemical manufacturing plant a Corvallis company intends to build at 2435 Ferry St. S.W.
Approval of the site plan is up to the city planning staff following a period set aside for public comment. Planner Liz Olmstead told me Wednesday that once the application is deemed complete, the city will notify neighboring property owners within 300 feet of the property lines.
A company called Valliscor LLC submitted the application for the site plan review on Nov. 4.
On its website the company says it “specializes in the commercial manufacture of high-value compounds containing the element fluorine — particularly materials that require production under specific requirements due to their regulated properties.”
The company now has its office and a manufacturing facility on the HP campus on Circle Boulevard in Corvallis. There, Valliscor is situated within the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute (ATAMI).
The company was founded in 2012. Both the founders have PhD degrees in organic chemistry.
The Albany application covers two undeveloped tax lots totaling just under 13 acres and zoned for light industry on the east side of Ferry Street. The current owner is Pacific Cast Technologies Inc., Albany.
Valliscor wants the two tax lots redesignated to become three. On one of the new parcels, pretty much in the center of the entire property, it intends to construct a 16,000-square-foot building and a 15,000-square-foot covered chemical storage area.
The company says in its filing with the city that eventually the other parcels may be developed too. Then the entire site would “operate as a manufacturing campus with buildings in close proximity to each other, sharing centralized parking, loading areas and utilities.”
The company says its filing shows the application meets all the standards laid out in the Albany Development Code. That what’s the city’s review is intended to check. (hh)
It’s a light industrial area SURROUNDED BY HOUSING!!! Terrible to even be considered.
Per Wikipedia-,
“Fluorine is a chemical element; it has symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen[note 1] and exists at standard conditions as pale yellow diatomic gas. Fluorine is extremely reactive as it reacts with all other elements except for the light inert gases. It is highly toxic”.
Upwind of most of Albany
Extremely Reactive & Highly Toxic. What could possibly go wrong?
Just another application process that will be green-lit by the city’s planning department, et al!
Like Bill K. said: “Extremely Reactive & Highly Toxic. What could possibly go wrong?”
As a person with only 47% lung function, I always cringe when I hear of more toxic chemicals, especially ones that can seriously injury the lungs, being anywhere in the vicinity. Flourine is such a chemical. There are many homes near the proposed site. I don’t think this is a good idea. Look what’s happened in other cities and towns when problems with chemical plants occur. Their construction/operation should never be allowed near residential areas.
From the National Institute of Health:
“Given fluoropolymers’ extreme persistence, emissions associated with their production, use, and disposal, and high likelihood for human exposure to PFAS, their production and uses should be curtailed except in cases of essential use.”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7700770/
I think you meant SW not SE.
Yes, thanks. I’ll fix it.
Like a lot of small communities, any development of any type is always welcomed by government as long as all the boxes are checked. No Small City can afford to go negative on development because of the legal ramifications they will never be able to afford. It’s up to citizens to create the wall that is often needed to block development, which citizens see as unwanted or dangerous for their communities.
This is a terrible place for that type of operation. The prevailing winds would carry any fumes directly into houses. Albany has plenty of toxins already when Millersburg is included.
I wonder why they want to leave Corvallis, where they are not right next to peoples homes, in favor of a place in Albany that is right next to peoples homes, thousands of pounds of Fluorine, Iodine, Chlorine……………. sketchy, very sketchy.
This was my thought as well… why leave Corvallis? We really don’t need a bunch of chemical filled trucks trying to get across the railroad tracks either. Why would the city even entertain this thought in that location?
Probably for expansion/growth.
Where exactly is 2435 Ferry, S.W.? Give me some markers as to what it is close to.
This plant is an awful idea, but, of course, the city needs money after shooting their wad of money on the waterfront to the tune of 25 million!!! So, they would let any chemical plant of any kind come in. Corvallis apparently doesn’t want this particular company to expand in their town.
North of Albany Rental on same side of the street
Thanks.
is there a logical reason something like this needs to be in town?
Our complacency will do us in concerning the cities decisions. The officials that decide these bad projects never suffer the consequences for promoting them. Everyone is so enamored with bringing big companies here hoping for a quick fix for the need of jobs that we are blind to what it will cost us. Smaller diverse local businesses would increase our independence and support “our” economy. Properly supported businesses have a stake in our economy. The quality of service is better when they offer us a stake in their lives too.
On the map it looks like it is also across from Sunrise Grade School and Calapooia Middle School as the crow flies.
how about some where near the new container terminal? or out south pacific ave? no? its gotta be in town? near schools? where the hell is any common sense in this?
There is no common sense in government.
If the citizens of Albany only knew…
Having lived in that area for over 19 years, I know the wind patterns pretty well. The winds blow from the S-SW in the winter; from the N-NW in the summer; and on more than a few occasions from the W. It’s the latter that concerns homes and schools the most. Many days I could smell what PCT was spewing…and ya want this nightmare to go in there. As a side note, I lived close enough, I could feel when the furnaces blew up a couple of times. JUST SAY…NO!!
What evidence do all these complainers have that a brand new plant with the latest available protections would result in all this damage? Not one actual disaster was mentioned as an example.
Operators are known to make mistakes. 3 Mile island & Chernobyl come to mind. Why tempt fate when it can be situated in a far less “critical” area? Would you play Russian Roulette with a 100 shot revolver because you have better odds than a 6 shooter?
That is the mind set I was thinking about. Those accidents almost killed nuclear power. It did in Germany. I admit Russian roulette with a million chambers is worth a try. Just leaving our house is a thousand times more dangerous
Wait! They’re doing this backwards! Should not the neighbors be informed before the application is complete?? They are not going to like this at all!
It’s not exactly the Hollywood hills around there but property values will tank and some may become unsalable. It’s not fair to them to be left in the dark until AFTER the paperwork is done. This property would be more appropriate for infill housing in my opinion.
As for new jobs, don’t expect much employment for average people. Sounds like degrees may be required.
The company has sponsored one neighborhood meeting. The public comment period always starts after the application is complete. The city won’t decide on the request until the comment period is over and comments have been considered.
As a homeowner within 100 feet of this disaster looking to happen, I am at a loss of what steps I need to take to put a stop to this.
We were at the meeting, and there was NO ONE representing Valliscor! It felt very much like a scam meeting to us.
I called Valliscor to ask for a walk through of their current facility and was told it couldn’t happen due to them not wanting anyone to “know their secrets” (my interpretation). But they were working on getting us answers to questions we had at the meeting.
After not hearing anything for well over a week, I emailed Kim Riccitelli of Green Cascades LLC (design and construction engineering company) to ask when we would be getting answers to our questions. I received her response the next day, but it was short and not very informative. The final sentence, “A submission has been made to the city and they are reviewing the proposal for code compliance and land use requirements now.”
What are we to think? What are we to do?
We are VERY frustrated and feel very much that this is happening in spite of any concerns the neighboring homeowners have.
If anyone has a direction for us to take in this, we are open to suggestions…..if it isn’t too late already.
You could move. I hear that home values are really high at the moment so you should be able to make a good haul.
Many of you folks should take the time to learn about state law, requirements on cities and zoning.
Zoning specifies what type of development is allowed and where. It’s set a decade or more in advance precisely so businesses and citizens know what may develop and where. It’s ALL done in public. It’s REQUIRED by state law that Cities provide for and establish zoning to accommodate growth.
Go to the city website and you can look at zoning maps 24/7/365.
Hasso, it’s pretty clear that a lot of folks have never been educated in civics/government and how it works. Not your fault, for sure, but maybe you have some ideas on how people can better understand the way things work.
Yeah, big ask – I know.
This is ridiculous and not only close to homes but to our water supply.
Wow, this is crazy. A plant like this should be far from residential areas.
why?? why does it need to be in town? why? not one person is able to answer my question
As a retired Certified Industrial Hygienist, I have a lot of questions about the actual chemical processes, the engineering controls and process safety management plans. As always, the devil is in the details….
Thank you, Hasso, for taking the time to post this and provide readers’ responses. It’s shocking and upsetting to read, but better we know anyway. It’s been said that knowledge is power, but that’s only partly true. Compared to Big Money, seems we citizens can’t get no respect in this town.