JCI to End Lead Operations at Shanghai Plant

Johnson Controls Inc. has scrapped efforts to resume lead processing at a factory in Shanghai that local authorities blame for illness in children living nearby.

The Milwaukee, Wis.-based company, which disputes the contamination allegations, was forced to halt lead processing at the facility a year ago. JCI has since shifted that work to other plants in China.

The Shanghai facility will continue to store and ship batteries produced elsewhere. The company says the remaining operations will require fewer workers, but it has not specified how many jobs will be eliminated. Employees are being offered severance or jobs at its other plants, according to JCI.