Unocal to Shut Brea Plant by 1991 : 136 Jobs to Be Lost as Fertilizer Work Moves to W. Sacramento

Unocal Corp. will close its 52-acre Brea plant by 1991, gradually eliminating 136 jobs and consolidating operations at its West Sacramento facility because of a downturn in the chemical fertilizer market, company officials said Thursday.

The company has operated a chemical plant in the city since 1954, producing such chemicals as ammonia and urea, which are sold wholesale to fertilizer dealers throughout the West and later purchased in bulk by farmers.

“We’ve been evaluating the nitrogen fertilizer market and Brea’s ability to service that market for several years,” said Charles F. Merrill, senior vice president for Unocal’s chemicals division. “The fertilizer market is depressed and has been for some time. The cost of raw materials is too expensive here. . . . It is not economical to continue to operate.”

$40-Million Annual Sales

About 150,000 tons of ammonia and 85,000 tons of urea--the factory’s two major products--are produced annually at the plant, bringing in about $40 million per year in sales. The plant also makes such chemicals as nitric acid and carbon dioxide.

Unocal is a major producer of nitrogen fertilizer products in the West and will continue to supply ammonia and urea from more modern factories in Kenai, Alaska, Merrill said.

“We are not eliminating production,” Merrill said. “We are improving our manufacturing and distribution system. . . . We will continue to be the largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizer products in the western U.S.”

Layoffs will begin in 1989, Merrill said. The final layoffs of operations, maintenance and support personnel will happen in 1991, when the plant will be closed down completely.

Meetings Held

Employee meetings were held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday to inform Unocal’s Brea workers and explain the options open to them. Those meetings will continue today, until all employees are notified of the upcoming plant closure.

“No one likes to see a plant close, but the reports (from employees) have been favorable so far,” said Jack Canaday, the company’s manager of personnel services. Most workers have been with Unocal for an average of 18 years, Canaday said, and the longest-term laborer at the plant has been a Unocal employee for about 30 years.

About 23 of the workers expected to lose their jobs are eligible for early retirement and will be offered that option. An unspecified number of employees will be offered a severance bonus, and job placement assistance will also be available.

In addition, the company will be creating an estimated 70 new jobs when it expands its West Sacramento facility to accommodate the increased production formerly done in Brea. Those jobs will be offered to laid-off employees.

“There will be a net reduction of about 66 jobs,” Merrill said.

Workers Not Surprised

Unocal employees interviewed Thursday said they were not surprised by the closure announcement, which had been discussed as a possibility for the past several years. Several said they were satisfied with the options offered by Unocal.

“The company has been more than fair to all its employees,” said Gary Hamner, an insulator at the plant. “I feel very confident about them.”

Said Tom Crawford, a fire and safety supervisor: “There’s always that insecurity that you get with a new program, but I think in the next few months they (the workers) will be placed” in other jobs either within or outside of the company.

A $50-million building project is proposed in West Sacramento, including the construction of ammonium nitrate and urea ammonium nitrate production facilities to replace the equipment in Brea and increase production capacity.

Unocal currently plans to close the ammonia and urea production facilities in Brea first, within 12 to 18 months. It will continue to produce other chemicals until 1991, using raw materials from its Alaska operations.

To date, Unocal has no firm plans for the Brea factories or the land. Part of that land is currently leased out and contains the two golf courses that surround the highly automated facility.

Once the factories are shut, said Barry Lane, Unocal’s manager of public relations, they will be designated as surplus land and become the responsibility of the company’s real estate division.

Times staff writer Kirk Jackson contributed to this story.