Rohm and Haas
| File:Rohm haas logo.gif | |
| Company type | Public (NYSE: ROH) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Chemical manufacturing |
| Founded | September 1, 1909 |
| Headquarters |  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
Key people | Raj Gupta, CEO & Chairman |
| Divisions | Morton Salt Windsor Salt |
| Website | www.rohmhaas.com |
Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE: ROH), a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based company, manufactures miscellaneous materials. A Fortune 500 Company, Rohm and Haas employs more than 17,000 people in 27 countries. The annual sales revenue of Rohm and Haas stands at about USD 8.9 billion. On 2008-07-10, The Dow Chemical Company agreed to buy Rohm and Haas for $17.29 billion.[1]
History
The company was fouded in Esslingen, Germany by Dr. Otto Röhm and Mr. Otto Haas in 1907. Haas moved to Philadelphia and began the American side of the business on September 1, 1909, from an office on Front Street, while Otto Röhm remained in Germany to run a company that would eventually become Röhm GmbH. The American company grew rapidly as World War I approached, because of their initial invention, a synthetic substitute (brand name Oropon) for fermented dog dung, which was used for bating leather (part of the tanning process); leather was needed for the war in large quantities for belts and saddles.
The company again grew rapidly as World War II approached, as it manufactured Plexiglas acrylic, a clear plastic which was needed for aircraft canopies. They sold this part of the business in 1998 to Elf Atochem (now Arkema).[2]
In 1965 Rohm and Haas moved from its Washington Square headquarters to a new headquarters on the Independence Mall a few blocks away. The new Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters was designed Pietro Belluschi and George M. Ewing Co.[3]
In 1999 Rohm and Haas acquired the Morton Salt company, which operates as a division of Rohm and Haas today.
The main products of Rohm and Haas are specialty materials, advanced chemistry that allows end use products to have a particular characteristic — low-odor, water-based paints, sunscreens with greater SPF functionality, or more powerful semiconductor chips, for example.
On July 10, 2008 Rohm and Haas announced it was being bought by Dow Chemical Company for US$18.8 billion. Rohm and Haas will continue doing business under its name and will remain in its Philadelphia headquarters.[4]
Controversy
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Rohm and Haas is one of five companies undergoing a class-action lawsuit filed by residents of McCullom Lake located in McHenry County, Illinois. The plaintiffs claim these local manufacturing companies have a direct correlation to 21 out of 1,000 residents experiencing some type of brain or pituitary gland cancer. Several current and former residents have already died or experienced a relapse of their brain cancer. As early as 1980, Rohm and Haas' McCullom Lake factory has undergone investigation for contamination to the town's groundwater. Studies showed the groundwater never affected the town's well water.
Nineteen current and former McCullom Lake residents have filed the lawsuit with the help of Philadelphia attorney, Aaron Freiwald. Eighteen plaintiffs have suffered brain cancer, three have pituitary cancer and one cirrhosis of the liver. Rohm and Haas has taken an active role by hiring environmental consultants to help their cleanup efforts. They deny their factory has any correlation to the illnesses.
Two years ago, Freiwald sued the company on behalf of the thousands of workers in one of their Pennsylvania research facilities when 15 people were diagnosed with brain cancer. Lawsuits are still pending.
McHenry County's local newspaper, Northwest Herald, published a six-piece investigative story on the lawsuits and residents.
Environmental record
On July 6, 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency charged Rohm and Haas of violating the Clean Air Act after inspecting a facility in Louisville, Kentucky. This faculty was claimed to not repair a deteriorated chemical storage tank, maintain a complete list of monitoring regulations, or remove an accumulation of hazardous wastes.[5]
On February 12, 2006, eleven workers were hospitalized after being exposed to fumes that leaked out of the Rohm and Haas Corporation chemical plant in Cincinnati, Ohio.[6] On February 15, 2006, a mechanical employee died when working on a steam ejector due to the inhalation of hydrogen sulfide gas.[7] An investigation determined that since the sewer vent was plugged, the hydrogen sulfide gas accumulated into large concentrations that became lethal.[8]
On April 25, 2006, Rohm and Haas, along with other defendants, were filed civil action in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for failing to prevent the toxic spills, to employ adequate groundwater practices, and to warn residents of any potential presence of underground contamination.[9] This lead to 18 filed cases of brain tumors and cancers among local residents of Ringwood, Illinois.[10]
See also
References
- ^ "Dow Chemical to buy Rohm and Haas". Associated Press. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
- ^ "Arkema Inc. Our History". 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
- ^ Clausen, Meredith L. (1999). Pietro Belluschi: Modern American Architect. MIT Press. pp. Page 313. ISBN 0262531674.
- ^ Desmond, Maurna (2008). "Dow Chemical Bonds With Rohm & Haas". Forbes.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|quotes=ignored (help) - ^ "U.S. v. Rohm and Haas Chemicals, Inc. (Consent Decree) Complaint" (PDF). 12/29/04. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "11 workers injured by leaking fumes at Reading plant". 05/05/06. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "ROHM AND HAAS COMPLETES PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION: HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM SEWER LINE BELIEVED TO BE SOURCE". 05/05/06. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); line feed character in|title=at position 51 (help) - ^ "http://www.ohiocitizen.org/campaigns/rohm_haas/rohm_haas.htm". 05/05/06. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|title= - ^ "Ringwood Illinois Cancer Cases". Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ^ "Class Action Complaint" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-05-16.