By Paul Morden, from www.theobserver.ca The Observer
A local company is buying the Ethyl Canada property in Corunna and plans to operate it as an industrial park. Jon McEachran, president of Dockside Industrial Park Inc., said its purchase of the Ethyl site is expected to close in November. “We will begin by leasing parts of the property,” he said. “There is a 16,000-square-foot office building, there are warehouses and rail lines, and even storage tanks that may be of use to local industry.”
Ethyl Corporation said this week it’s closing down its operations in Corunna, ending the jobs of nearly 30 workers and contractors at the plant site that dates back 57 years.
Ethyl has said it expects to vacate the property on or before Nov. 15.
“We are saddened to see the loss of Ethyl Canada” and the jobs at its Corunna site, McEachran said. “We can be good neighbours,” he added, “and we hope to create more jobs in the future, while serving as a support to local business.”
McEachran is one of the owners of the Vidal Street Industrial Park on Kenny Street in Chemical Valley. It also began as a brownfield industrial site that has been redeveloped. He said he and the other owners of Dockside Industrial Park believe there are opportunities with the Ethyl site.
“We are a locally owned and operated company,” he said. “We have lifelong ties to this community and we have a vested interest in maintaining the site with integrity.”
There are no plans to manufacture any products at the Ethyl site at this time, McEachran said. “We recognize it’s a risk,” he said. “We don’t have any contracts set up.” McEachran, who is Sarnia city councillor, said Dockside Industrial Park is a separate corporation from the Vidal Street Industrial Park.
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