It's the first time in many years residents have had a chance to speak out against allowing a chemical company on the site of the Thompson Chemical Co. explosion in Hebronville.

The 32-acre parcel just off Oak Hill Avenue on the Seekonk line has been occupied continuously since the mid-1950s by the corporate ancestors of Teknor Apex, including Thompson, which owns the property and still has a chemical tank farm there for its Pawtucket operations.

Thompson Chemical exploded in 1964, and soon after built a new plant in Freetown.

Roberts Chemical, also headquartered in Pawtucket, hopes to move to a building on the Thompson site that was vacated by Teknor's colorant plant last spring.

But the company needs a special permit for the storage of chemicals, which is central to its distribution operation. Unlike Thompson or Teknor, Roberts does not make or mix flammable or explosive chemicals.

With Teknor-Apex and its related companies on the site for more than a half-century, this is the first time a new firm is trying to set up shop.

Teknor Apex draws its lineage from the Apex Tire Co., which got its start in Providence in 1924, according to the Teknor Web site.

The company moved to Pawtucket after serious damage in the Hurricane of 1938. In the 1940s, it became Apex Tire and Rubber Co., and it acquired the Thompson Chemical Co.

Apex Tire and Rubber built a plant just off Oak Hill Avenue in Attleboro on the Seekonk line for the Thompson operation in 1956.

In 1964, Apex Tire and Rubber, along with Thompson, were sold to Continental Oil Co. and the two companies became Thompson Apex, according to the Teknor Web site. In 1968, Continental was forced to divest some of its companies, including Thompson Apex, which then became today's Teknor Apex. Its headquarters are still in Pawtucket and it still has a chemical storage operation on the Thompson site.

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