Publicker Industries An American Distiller Of The Past Century

Publicker Industries was one of the most successful alcohol producers and distillers in America in the mid-twentieth century. It was originally incorporated in 1913 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In 1946 it became a public company when its shares began to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. At the heights of its success the company employed more than 5000 people in its facilities

In 1956 Publicker Industries launched one of its most successful products, the Inver House Rare. This was a brand of blended Scotch whiskey and soon became extremely popular. There came a situation where as a result of high industry demand there were not enough stocks to meet sales. It was then decided to establish a subsidiary, Inver House Distillers Limited. In 1964, a fully integrated complex was constructed at Airdrie which included a malt distillery and a grain distillery. Eventually Inver House Distillers was acquired by Pacific Spirits Group in 2001 and is now a subsidiary of Thai Beverages, one of the largest beverage alcohol companies in South East Asia.

Publicker Industries remained profitable until the early 1950s when it started on a decline that continued for four decades. By early 1985 the company was left with only 300 employees and was desperately in need of a capital infusion. In April the same year a group of investors led by Harry I. Freund and Jay S. Goldsmith of Balfour Investors Inc. purchased 1600000 shares of common stock of the company for $4 million. The amount was used to reduce the companys working capital deficit. For the next few years the company continued to take numerous financial measures to reduce its debts.

After the slide of fortunes, Publicker Industries began to move away from the business of manufacturing and selling alcohol and in 1985 it ceased operations at its alcohol manufacturing plant and bulk storage facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In March 1986 the company sold the facility to a wrecking company for $3 million. The purchaser of the facility, Overland Corporation commenced demolition of the site and was in the process of dismantling the facility when an explosion killed two of its workers and it filed for bankruptcy in January 1987.

Publicker Industries has been involved in serious charges of environmental damage done to the areas surrounding its facilities along the Delaware river in Philadelphia. In June 1987 a major fire and several explosions ravaged the abandoned facilities of the former distillery. The US Environmental Protection Agency investigated the incident and concluded that 75 years of alcohol distillation processing, chemical mixing and storage had turned it into one of the worst hazardous sites of the Mid-Atlantic region with more than two million tons of toxic wastes.

According to a $250 million redevelopment plan the old Publicker site is to be transformed into a superport with terminal facilities for passengers and commercial goods. In 1989 the Environment Protection Agency took legal action against Publicker Industries which agreed to pay $13 million for the clean up. The EPA in partnership with the state and a private redeveloper, Holt Cargo Systems Inc has cleansed the area of all toxic remnants and plans to redevelop the site as prime commercial port area. Epa