Business View Magazine interviews representatives
from Sarnia, Ontario, as part of our focus on best practices of Canadian
cities.
Sarnia is
a City in Southwestern Ontario, located where Lake Huron flows into the St.
Clair River at the Canadian/U.S. border. It is part of the traditional
territory of the Ojibwa, Odawa, and Potowatami nations. The French explorer,
Robert de La Salle, first sailed the area in 1679, and gave it the name then in
use by the First Nations, “The Rapids.” Before dredging began in the 1850s,
Sarnia was known for its shallow and turbulent water at the mouth of Lake
Huron. It was surveyed as Port Sarnia in the 1830s and incorporated as the Town
of Sarnia in 1857. Sarnia grew to become an important center for lake
freighters and oceangoing ships.
Sarnia’s
role in the petrochemical industry stems from its proximity to the oil fields
of Petrolia and Oil Springs, which have been drilled commercially since the
1860s. A burgeoning oil refining industry developed in East London and
eventually consolidated into Imperial Oil. As rail connections and drainage
improved, Imperial Oil relocated to Petrolia, and then to Sarnia in 1898 after
Standard Oil purchased the company, establishing Sarnia as a refining center.
The petrochemical industry expanded rapidly after 1942 when Polymer, a federal
crown corporation, established a synthetic rubber factory in Sarnia. This
factory was built by local tradespeople in order to supply the allies in World
War II with synthetic rubber (from oil) when the supply of natural rubber had
been cut off. The supply was considered a contributing factor to the success of
the war effort. The plant was built in an amazingly short period of time
and operated very profitably providing a return to the Canadian taxpayers.
This achievement was celebrated by the Canadian government by depicting
the Polymer Corporation on the Canadian $10 bill.
Today,
Sarnia and neighboring municipalities are home to 36 petrochemical and refinery
facilities, employing some 4,500 people. But things are changing in this
waterfront city of 72,000. Once known mainly for its petrochemical industry,
Sarnia is now deep in the process of diversifying its big oil industrial base
to include big bio. For the hybrid chemical system, future growth will
come from bio-based industry. But the region is also committed to
maintaining the petroleum industry as they work hard to decrease its greenhouse
gas emissions and look at ways to partner with the bio-based industry.
“We’re actually seen as a leader in North America in the bio-industry process,”
says Alan Shaw, Sarnia’s Director of Planning and Building. “We’ve seen people
come in from as far as Europe and California to set up plants and operations
here in Sarnia.”
Images. Wiki, Businessview.
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