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Firms Go Way Back in Region

BY MICHAEL GIBBS

Five Ringwood companies facing lawsuits accusing them of dumping toxic chemicals into the groundwater a mile north of McCullom Lake have deep roots in the community.

The defendants in the lawsuit are Morton International, Rohm and Haas Chemicals LLC, Huntsman, Huntsman Polyurethanes, and Modine Manufacturing Co.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a McCullom Lake resident who died of brain cancer and two of his McCullom Lake Road neighbors who also have brain cancer. The plaintiff's attorney is seeking a class-action lawsuit involving all current and former McCullom Lake residents dating back to the 1960s.

Modine Manufacturing Co. operates a condenser-manufacturing facility at 4400 Barnard Mill Road that employs 250.

Modine has operated its Ringwood facility since 1961, said Lori Stafford, a company spokeswoman.

Modine, based in Racine, Wis., designs, engineers, tests, and manufactures heat-transfer products for a wide range of applications and markets.

Rohm and Haas Chemicals LLC is a unit of Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas Co., a maker of adhesives, chemicals, coatings, electronic materials, salt and sealants.

Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas bought Morton International in 1999. The approximately $5 billion purchase included Morton's operations in Ringwood and Woodstock, said Syd Havely, a company spokesman.

The Ringwood facility, at 5005 Barnard Mill Road, has been in operation since 1909. The facility, which employs about 175, produces adhesives and sealants.

In 2002, Rohm and Haas shuttered its facility located off Lake Avenue in Woodstock.

About 70 of the 100 Woodstock employees were transferred to the company's Midwest Technical Center located on the west side of Randall Road, between Interstate 90 and Route 72, in Elgin.

Huntsman Corp. is the parent company of Huntsman Polyurethanes. Huntsman Polyurethanes established roots at 5015 Barnard Mill Road after it bought the thermoplastics polyurethanes business from Rohm and Haas in 2000, said Don Olson, a Huntsman spokesman.

Huntsman, which has dual headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas, and Salt Lake City, leases two buildings in Ringwood from Rohm and Haas. The company also operates another building at 5015 Barnard Mill Road that it built in 2002, Olson said.

The buildings, which combine to employ about 60, manufacturer thermoplastics polyurethanes that are found in several products, including automobile windshields and Humvees used by the military in Iraq, Olson said.

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and commodity chemicals. Its operating companies manufacture basic products for a variety of global industries including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, textiles, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.

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