Henderson history: Anaconda’s first aluminum potline fired up back in 1973
At 9 a.m. April 2, 1973, electricity began flowing through reactors near the Henderson-Webster county line, beginning a process that produced the first ingots of aluminum about two weeks later.
Those reactors, called “pots,” are arranged in a potline nearly 1,000 feet long, according to The Gleaner of April 3.“Reduction is an electro-chemical process which removes oxygen, the principal impurity, from aluminum ore called alumina. The alumina is dissolved in chemical salts and electrical current is sent through the mixture, freeing the metal and oxygen.”
The molten aluminum is then drained from the bottom of the pots and cast into ingots. The process runs 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
Construction of the Anaconda Aluminum Co. smelter near Sebree was announced in The Gleaner of July 25, 1970, and construction began that fall. Production began with the first potline 50 years ago while construction continued on the second potline.
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Anaconda was a Fortune 500 company during the late 1960s with more than 25,000 employees. Its primary business interest was copper but also included aluminum, uranium, zinc, silver, gold, lead, molybdenum, cadmium, and several others.
In 1971, the communist government of Chile nationalized that country’s copper industry, which “dealt a blow to the mid-section of our company,” Joseph B. Woodlief, Anaconda Aluminum’s president, told the Henderson Chamber of Commerce in early 1973. “It took away two-thirds of the company’s copper production and much of its earnings.”
That was the beginning of the company’s end.
ARCO Metals Co., formerly known as Atlantic Richfield, absorbed Anaconda at the beginning of 1977. Alcan acquired the local smelter in 1985 and the current owner is Century Aluminum, which bought it in mid-2013 from Rio Tinto-Alcan. It currently employs about 625 people.
But the $100-million smelter was already well under way during the company’s fall from the heights. It was designed and built by ALCOA with about 1,000 construction workers over a period of two and a half years.
Electricity was provided by the city of Henderson’s $82-million Station II power plant, which was built nearby about the same time. The smelter was the power plant’s primary customer; the power plant has since been shut down.
“We are here in the Henderson area because of excellent water transportation, the availability of electric power, and because Henderson is centered in our marketing area, and because of the quality of the people in the Henderson area,” plant manager R.A. “Bob” Sneddon said in The Gleaner of April 15.
The company investigated 125 possible plant sites in Kentucky and surrounding states before choosing the Sebree area.
Anaconda personnel waited until June 20 to dedicate the new plant, and held an open house at that time. The Gleaner published a special supplement June 17 that focused on the county’s newest corporate citizen.
One story noted aluminum makes up about 8 percent of the earth’s crust, but does not naturally occur in metallic form.
“Aluminum is one of the most versatile and widely used metals in the world. It is used in everything from chewing gum wrappers to beverage cans to bridge construction to skyscrapers.”
The same story noted another key aspect of plant was the production of large carbon blocks called anodes, which are used in the pots to carry electrical current through the chemical salts.
“The 1,000-pound carbon blocks are formed in a gigantic press, the largest single piece of machinery at the plant.”
Once pressed, the anodes are baked for about three weeks before being transferred to the pots.
The company president’s remarks to the Chamber of Commerce were printed in full in the special supplement and in one portion Woodlief stressed the company’s dedication to protecting the environment and the safety of its workers.
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He said “$10 million was spent to safeguard the air and water in the plant area; $5 million was spent to provide safety and health for the workforce.” Furthermore, he said, the company expected to spend about $750,000 annually operating and maintaining those systems.
“Our company has a commitment to our employees and the communities within which we operate to maintain the highest level of environmental quality consistent with technical know-how available and competitive economics.
“Fumes emitted from our aluminum potlines are scrubbed dry with 98 percent-plus efficiency. Dust collectors are located at all points of discharge” and “we have a complete water recycling system.”
Another story in the June 17 supplement, which focused on how Anaconda planned to be “a good neighbor,” said up to three million gallons of water a day was cleaned and reused.
About 200,000 gallons was discharged daily through pipes to irrigate 42 acres where more than 10,000 trees had been planted on the plant’s farm property as well as areas disturbed by construction.
Children of Anaconda workers who were attending college – or about to -- received preference for the company’s summer job program, which mostly focused on the plant’s farm property. “Among their duties are removing dead timber, repairing fences and painting buildings. A limited number of students are also doing temporary jobs in the clerical and operations area.”
The Gleaner of June 21 reported more than 2,000 people toured the plant the previous day during the open house and were treated to a chicken lunch. They also received aluminum arrowheads simulating the company’s logo.
By that point, the plant’s start-up was about half completed and it employed about 550 people. Editorials ran both the day of and the day after the open house.
“We would remind our fellow citizens that for 50 years Henderson has been talking about its potential for large scale industry because of our geographic position and our water and mineral resources,” the June 20 editorial said. It went on to allude to the planned closure of long-time industries like Delker Bros.
“We lament their departure from our scene. But these shutdowns underscore the need for constant renewal in the economy….
“And Hendersonians are proud to welcome into our midst men and women who have called Montana, Pennsylvania, Chile, and other faraway places their home. We believe they are beginning to find Kentucky a pleasant place to live.”
100 YEARS AGO
A midnight fire originating in the Rex Theater destroyed or damaged eight brick buildings in downtown Clay, according to The Gleaner of April 5, 1923.
“The fire is supposed to have originated from matches thrown on the floor of the picture show, where the flames were discovered, as just at the close of the show the electric lights were out for a time and matches were used in leaving the building.”
The original damage estimate was $150,000 but the April 6 Gleaner reduced it to about $75,000.
75 YEARS AGO
Mrs. William R. Thompson, wife of the pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene, expressed embarrassment about publicity resulting from her asking Attorney General A.E. Funk for a legal opinion, according to her letter to the editor that appeared in The Gleaner of April 2, 1948.
She was trying to find out “if there were a provision in the state laws which would protect a girl from a failing grade in a required subject (at Barret Manual Training High School) if she refused to wear shorts or slacks in gymnastics.”
Three students had recently asked her about that topic, she said, and several others in previous years.
“I wrote Mr. Funk a personal, confidential letter, asking him for a copy of this article referred to, and I was as much surprised and embarrassed as anyone when I learned he had turned his reply over to the Associated Press and that it had appeared in the newspapers.
“It was far from my intention to embarrass the teacher of gymnastics, the principal of the school, the pupils or myself…. I am very sorry that this was selected as newspaper material.”
I’ve had no luck in finding out what the attorney general’s opinion said.
25 YEARS AGO
Some of Henderson County’s top elected officials got hefty raises mandated by the General Assembly, according to The Gleaner of April 7, 1998.
How large? More than $17,000 a year for the judge-executive, the county clerk and the sheriff. They were getting the maximum of $48,726 but under newly passed legislation they were to receive $66,089.
Judge-executive Sandy Watkins said the increased pay would likely stabilize county government by retaining qualified individuals.
County Clerk Wilma Martin said she was “surprised and happy” about the raise. “Since I took office in 1990 the workload has doubled and so has the money that is collected. It’s nice to feel that your work is appreciated.”
The legislation set up a formula for setting salaries, taking into account length of service, population of the county, and the cost of living index. Consequently, the salaries differed from official to official.
For instance, if a new Henderson County judge-executive were to come in with no experience the salary would be $59,984.
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @BoyettFrank.