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The
ICM Chemical Plant
Like many of the cities
that perch on the banks of the mighty Mississippi,
New London experienced a sudden boom when oil reserves
were discovered off the American coast at the beginning
of last century. As with many of its neighbours, refining
and processing facilities began to spring up, and
the established economy was quick to take advantage
of the increase in river traffic. For a few decades,
the unromantic world of the black gold oozed over
the city, touching everything and making a select
few very rich.
The boom, however, did not last for
long. Successive crisis - national, international
and local - saw the flow of oil become a tickle and
stop altogether. The last serious oil related businesses
shut down and moved further south in the 1950's.
Despite local government unemployment
soared and crime rose with it. The old factories and
refineries were allowed to fall into disuse and disrepair
as the suddenly scant resources of the city became
focused on maintaining civil order. By the time the
gambling houses - with their tourists and their taxes
- came to the rescue of the city, the old oil sites
were abandoned and crumbling. Some got slowly redeveloped,
some were torn down, some where simply left to rot.
In the late 1980's, one of the few
remaining serviceable facilities was brought up by
the international chemical processing company ICM,
and they began to convert it to process hazardous
industrial chemicals. Almost predictably, the promised,
and much, anticipated, jobs never materialised as
the company brought in high-skill workers from outside
the city, only employing locals as menial labour.
Although not operating at anything
like it's full potential, the plant still employs
around 200 low-skill workers to shift stock, drive
trucks, make sure the right chemicals are given to
the right men in the white coats and dozens of other
jobs that are needed to ensure the important wheels
can keep on turning. |
