Diamond Alkali Company was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 chemical company incorporated in 1910 in West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 by a group of glass industry businessmen from Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

. The company soon established a large chemical plant

Chemical plant

A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use special equipment,...

 at Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Fairport Harbor is a village in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along Lake Erie at the mouth of the Grand River. The population was 3,180 at the 2000 census....

, which would operate for over sixty years. In 1948, the headquarters of the company was moved from Pittsburgh to Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

. In 1967, Diamond Alkali and Shamrock Oil and Gas merged to form the Diamond Shamrock Corporation. Diamond Shamrock would go on to merge with Ultramar Corporation

Ultramar

Ultramar is a Canadian oil refining and marketing company formerly known as Golden Eagle or Aigle d'or. Its head office is in Montreal...

, and the combined company, Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corporation

Ultramar

Ultramar is a Canadian oil refining and marketing company formerly known as Golden Eagle or Aigle d'or. Its head office is in Montreal...

, would in turn be acquired by Valero Energy Corporation in 2001.

Diamond Alkali was largely responsible for contamination leading to the creation of a Superfund Site in the Ironbound

Ironbound

The Ironbound is a large working-class neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. This close-knit, multi-ethnic community covers approximately four square miles . Historically, the area was called "Dutch Neck," "Down Neck," or simply "the Neck," because of the way the Passaic River curved to form what...

 section of Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

. Between 1951 and 1969, Diamond Alkali in Newark produced approximately 700,000 gallons of the herbicide Agent Orange

Agent Orange

Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...

. The plant had a reputation for accidents and producing the lowest quality (most contaminated with by-products) herbicides. Furthermore, the firm frequently dumped "bad" batches of the herbicide into the Passaic River

Passaic River

The Passaic River is a mature surface river, approximately 80 mi long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey,...

. The former plant property and adjoining portions of the Lower Passaic River

Passaic River

The Passaic River is a mature surface river, approximately 80 mi long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey,...

were declared a Superfund site in 1984. In 1986, the Diamond Shamrock Corporation agreed to pay $150,000 for a canvas tarp to cover 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of the contaminated area. Ecological investigation, dredging, and other cleanup activities are still underway as of 2010.