LyondellBasell Channelview, Texas

Also known as the Channelview Chemical Complex, this is one of the largest petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast, employing around 2,000 people, and totaling almost 3,900 acres. It began operation in 1957, as Texas Butadiene and Chemical, and later became an Equistar plant, a company subsidiary of Houston-based Lyondell (Lyondell is now owned by a Dutch company and is called LyondellBesell). Two olefin units on the north side make ethylene, propylene, butadiene and benzene. The south facility uses these feedstocks to make propylene oxide, styrene monomers, gas blending products, and other products that are used in goods such as clothing, food packaging, furnishings, and building materials.