Michigan, and Ironton, Ohio. Semet-Solvay also operated its own coal mines in West Virginia, providing much of its coal supply. In 1889, Solvay came to southwest Detroit area known as Delray. At the time it improved streets and the neighborhood, as it extracted underground salts from beneath the Detroit River. By 1969, Solvay was gone. In 1915, during World War I, Split Rock became the site of a munitions factory operated by the Semet-Solvay Company. The plant employed about 2500 people when it exploded on July 2, 1918, killing at least 50. The explosion allegedly occurred after a mixing motor in the main TNT building overheated. The fire rapidly spread through the wooden structure of the main factory. Firefighting efforts were hampered by a loss of water pressure, and the factory eventually exploded. The blast leveled the structure. Absorption by Allied Chemical Both the Solvay Process Company and the Semet-Solvay Company were absorbed by the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation in 1920, a merger promoted by chemist William Henry Nichols and financier Eugene Meyer. Nichols owned several chemical companies and was a founding member of the American Chemical Society in 1876, serving twice as its president. Meyer was publisher of The Washington Post. Nichols, having observed American dependence on German chemical production, hence vulnerability during World War I, envisioned consolidation and recapitalization of the American chemical industry. Formed in 1920 and based in New York City, the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation combined five chemical companies, including Solvay Process and Semet-Solvay. When proposed, the promoters assured the companies that each would retain autonomy of operations. Meyer persuaded Orlando Weber to take charge of Allied Chemical. Under Weber's tenure between 1920 and 1935, Allied Chemical was successful financially, but his control reversed the previously agreed-upon policy about company autonomy. The Hazard family attempted to gain a controlling interest by quietly acquiring large amounts of stock in Allied Chemical. They failed to return operations of the plant to local control or rehire personnel terminated by the new corporation, contrary to their agreement. 1943 waste bed flood Large marshlands around the lake provided disposal for sludge from the process, leaving extensive "waste beds". These have contributed to the pollution of the Onondaga Lake. On Thanksgiving Day in 1943, 40,000 tons of industrial waste consisting of calcium carbonate and magnesia flooded the hamlet of Lakeland, New York. The industrial waste originated from the Solvay