Goodyear will stop production at its Niagara Falls chemical plant by the end of October, ending 80 years of manufacturing at a factory that employs about 70 workers and has faced scrutiny over its emissions of a cancer-causing chemical.

Decommissioning work will follow the end of production, but a final closure date has not been confirmed. The shutdown will add to a decade of manufacturing losses in the city.

“The Niagara Falls facility is expected to operate through October 31, with decommissioning activities to follow,” Goodyear said in a statement Thursday.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said it is leaving the chemical business and will close its remaining plants in Niagara Falls and Pasadena, Texas. It sold most of its chemical division to Gemspring Capital Management in October 2025, but retained those two facilities and the rights to their products.

“Following the sale of the majority of its chemical business in 2025, the company has made the decision to fully exit this business to focus on its core products and services,” the company said.

From its operations beginning in 1946 through today, the chemical manufacturer has had an impact in Western New York.

Most of the plant’s employees are represented by United Steelworkers Local 4-0277, Goodyear unit.

“We recognize this decision is difficult for those impacted associates,” Goodyear said. “The company is committed to treating all impacted associates with fairness, respect and transparency while providing comprehensive support during their transition.”

Dave Wasiura, district director for the United Steelworkers, which represents between 25 and 30 workers at the plant, said the union would negotiate on behalf of its workers as it navigates the closure.

“Our union will bargain the effects of Goodyear’s decision to shut its Niagara Falls facility, as we work to support our members and mitigate the impact of the closure on our members and their families,” Wasiura wrote in an email to The Buffalo News.

The plant opened in 1946 as Pathfinder Chemicals to manufacture polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. It was renamed Goodyear in 1957, when it began producing rubber antioxidants, and phased out PVC production in 1996. At its peak in the 1990s, the factory employed more than 300 people.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. chemical plant borders a Niagara Falls neighborhood where residents are right to be frightened and angry to learn that it may be another two years before Goodyear installs better pollution controls.

That leaves residents near those facilities with a basic unanswered question: Do the pollution limits written into old permits reflect what is actually coming from smokestacks today?

In recent years, the plant has been at the center of concerns about toxic air pollution.

During a state Department of Environmental Conservation permit review in 2022, emissions tests found the plant was releasing at least seven times the amount of ortho-toluidine, a bladder carcinogen, considered acceptable under state health-based standards.

The DEC reached an agreement with the company requiring temporary pollution controls to reduce emissions of ortho-toluidine and other toxic chemicals. Those controls began operating in April.

Permanent controls were due to be operational by Oct. 31 – the same day the company now expects production to end. It is unclear whether the necessary equipment has been installed.

At least 78 workers have been diagnosed with bladder cancer since the 1970s after working at the plant.

“My goal was to protect public health and welfare,” the employee said.

Questions about the plant’s emissions are also part of a lawsuit filed by Dylan Keenan, a former DEC employee who worked on Goodyear’s permit review. Keenan accuses Goodyear of intentionally falsifying test data to show ortho-toluidine emissions 90% lower than they actually were. Goodyear has denied this.

The DEC fired Keenan for insubordination after he reportedly disregarded directives not to communicate with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about his concerns. His lawsuit claims the DEC violated his First Amendment  rights by imposing those restrictions.

Goodyear’s departure follows the loss of hundreds of other manufacturing jobs in Niagara Falls.

Cascades closed its Norampac containerboard packaging plant on Packard Road in 2025, eliminating 123 jobs. Occidental Chemical closed its Buffalo Avenue factory in 2021, ending 115 years of chemical production at the former Hooker Chemical site. That plant had 130 full-time employees and 20 full-time contractors.

Globe Metallurgical eliminated about 100 jobs when it closed its Highland Avenue plant in 2018. Chemours, a DuPont spinoff, closed its Buffalo Avenue chemical plant in 2016, eliminating about 200 jobs.

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