Sweeney Tours the Kuehne Chemical Company

Kearny – Senate President Steve Sweeney toured the Kuehne Chemical Company today, a 100-year-old manufacturing company headquartered in Kearny, NJ. In addition to the New Jersey location, the company also has facilities in New Castle, DE, and New Haven, CT, and employs more than 150 people.

Kuehne is considered critical for the state’s infrastructure needs because it supplies sodium hypochlorite for the potable water and waste water treatment facilities. Its products are used primarily to sanitize water in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southern New England regions. The facility has been commended in recent years for its dedication to becoming more environmentally friendly through constructing a brine-to-bleach plant in Kearny, and for reducing the company’s chlorine consumption by 90 percent.  In addition, the brine-to-bleach plant dramatically reduces its carbon footprint by using a by-product to offset the natural gas needed in order to run the plant’s boilers.

“New Jersey has a water quality crisis, but the products from the Kuehne Company positively impact the quality of life for roughly 30 million people, providing them with sanitized and safe water that is fit for drinking,” said Senate President Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland).  “It is remarkable to see a company of this size working to protect the environment by making its process as clean as possible while still benefitting tens of millions of people. Their progress is a model for industries across the state. It is imperative that we continue to support businesses that not only benefit our citizens, but our state’s environment as well.”

Within New Jersey alone, Kuehne products affect New Jersey residents in: Camden, Cape May County, Middlesex County, Trenton and Jersey City. Currently, the company is unable to take advantage of the Urban Enterprise Zone Manufacturing Sale and Use Tax exemption for electricity due to their significantly automated manufacturing process.  In addition, the Board of Public Utilities is also considering removing their exemption from Renewable Portfolio Standards.

“We are incredibly proud of the progress this company has made over the last few years in an effort to become more sustainable for the future,” said Bill Paulin, Co-President of Administration and Finance at Kuehne Company. “Our ultimate goal is to continue to provide healthy drinking water to New Jersey residents because everyone deserves to have clean, safe water. We were grateful the Senate President visited us today so we could give him a first-hand tour of the progress that has been made in recent years towards making our work more inherently safe and environmentally friendly.”