Glass container manufacturer Owens-Brockway plans to lay off 93 Northeast Portland employees indefinitely, beginning December 30.

The Ohio company notified state employment officials of the pending layoffs in a letter this week. The company said it plans to idle one of the furnaces it uses for glass manufacturing at a facility near Portland International Airport.

Owens-Brockway did not explain why it’s shutting off the furnace and did not immediately respond to an inquiry. The company said it “cannot currently predict when, or if, this furnace will resume operations in the future.”

An analysis last year by The Oregonian/OregonLive found Owens-Brockway’s glass facility is among the state’s biggest polluters.

Using a new state methodology for evaluating the release of cancer-causing toxins, Owens-Brockway’s pollutants were nearly 60 times the state’s safety target. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in March named the facility as one of its top priorities for a crackdown on toxic air pollution.

Oregon’s jobless rate is at a historic low of 4.1% but layoffs have continued sporadically at various employers around the state. In the last two weeks alone companies have announced more than 300 pending layoffs at employers including Pacifica Beauty, McAfee and eyecare startup Sightbox.

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699