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September 30, 2006

Dow plans manufacturing expansions in Estarreja, Portugal

The Dow Chemical Company, September 29, 2006

Midland, MI - September 29, 2006 - The Dow Chemical Company announced today that it plans to expand manufacturing capacities for two products at its production site in Estarreja, Portugal.

Dow Polyurethanes, a business unit of Dow, intends to expand MDI production at the site, resulting in a significant increase in the Company’s global MDI capacity. Scheduled for completion in 2009, the added capacity will help address strong market demand for the product, which is currently estimated at 8 billion pounds per year globally.

In addition, Dow Building Solutions announced its intention to add additional manufacturing capacity for STYROFOAM™ brand building insulation products. This planned expansion is subject to all customary final approvals.

“With global demand for MDI growing at a steady pace, we are constantly looking for simple ways to streamline our operations and add incremental capacity wherever we can,” explained Pat Dawson, vice president of Dow Polyurethanes. “At the Estarreja site we have the opportunity to realize an incremental capacity addition quickly and cost-effectively.”

MDI is a major raw material used in the production of rigid polyurethane foams and polyurethane elastomers. Demand for MDI is currently growing at 6 to 7% annually and that is expected to continue. Overall global demand is particularly strong in end-use markets such as home, commercial, and industrial foam insulation, as well as refrigeration, appliances and coatings, sealants, elastomers and adhesives.

“Building on our new PMDI facility at Freeport in Texas, which became fully operational in May 2006, our plans for Estarreja underscore our commitment to the global polyurethanes industry and to our customers,” said Dawson.

The planned STYROFOAM expansion would enhance Dow’s ability to meet local customer needs for residential and commercial construction insulation products.

About Dow Polyurethanes

Dow is the world’s largest producer of polyether polyols, a leading producer of quality aromatic isocyanates, such as MDI and TDI, and a major supplier of propylene oxide, an essential component of polyether polyols. Dow’s polyurethanes products and formulated systems are used in rigid foams, flexible foams, adhesives, sealants, coatings, and elastomers, as well as many other applications. Dow also offers the latest in polyol technology with its VORANOL™ VORACTIV™ polyols, part of an ongoing initiative by Dow to lead the industry in providing high-performance products with reduced VOC-emissions. For more information, visit www.dowpolyurethanes.com, www.pusystems.com and www.voractiv.com.

About STYROFOAM™ brand insulation and Dow Building Solutions

Invented by Dow more than 60 years ago and identified worldwide by its distinctive Blue** color, STYROFOAM is the most widely recognized brand in insulation. Today, the STYROFOAM brand includes a variety of building insulation products.

Dow Building Solutions delivers innovative products and application expertise that improves living and working environments. Its leading product families include STYROFOAM™ Insulation Solutions, WEATHERMATE™ Weather Barrier Solutions, SYMMATRIX™ Oriented Composites, and GREAT STUFF™ Adhesives and Sealants.

To learn more about STYROFOAM and Dow Building Solutions, visit www.styrofoam.com.

About The Dow Chemical Company

Dow is a diversified chemical company that harnesses the power of science and technology to improve living daily. The Company offers a broad range of innovative products and services to customers in more than 175 countries, helping them to provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. Built on a commitment to its principles of sustainability, Dow has annual sales of $46 billion and employs 42,000 people worldwide. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

®™* Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") or an affiliated company of Dow

** The color Blue is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company

Posted by bhola at 07:33 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2006

Indian-born scientist earns Dow's top honour

Madan Bhasin, a senior scientist with The Dow Chemical Co. at the South Charleston Technology Park, has received the highest honour Dow awards to its scientists and researchers.

Bhasin was one of three scientists who received the Herbert H. Dow Medal on Aug. 30 during Dow's annual science and technology meeting at the Midland Center for the Arts in Midland, Mich.

Bhasin is senior scientist in ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol research and development. He was awarded the Herbert H. Dow Medal "for significant contributions to the advancement of catalysis, particularly for ethylene oxide."

The citation accompanying the medal said, "His creativity is remarkable, impacting diverse areas. Through effective collaboration, Madan has had a great impact at Dow and in the chemical industry."

The Herbert H. Dow Medal Award was created in 1979 to recognize researchers for continuous career achievements having significant impact on Dow business. The 24-carat-gold medal features a likeness of Dow founder Herbert Henry Dow.

Since its inception in 1979, only 26 people have received the Dow Medal. Also receiving the award this year were Clifford Gerwick, senior scientist at Dow AgroSciences research and development, and James Carl Stevens, a research fellow with Performance Plastics and Chemicals research and development.

Earlier this year, Bhasin was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his development of efficient catalysts for the production of ethylene oxide and for contributions to the fundamental understanding of catalysts.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is one of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. The academy honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education, to engineering literature, and to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology.

A press release announcing Bhasin's election credited him and other members of the Dow ethylene oxide-ethylene glycol research team with major research that included the development and application of 11 generations of new epoxidation catalysts that improve efficiency and production capability and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

Bhasin joined Union Carbide in 1963 as a chemist at what was then known as the South Charleston Technical Center. He progressed through various roles to the position of corporate fellow. He was promoted to senior scientist at Dow in 2001.

He has received numerous national and international awards for his work. He is the author of many publications in his field and holds 21 United States patents.

Bhasin received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Delhi. He completed graduate studies at Indiana University and earned a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Notre Dame.

Contact writer George Hohmann at business@dailymail.com or 348-4836.

Posted by bhola at 02:32 AM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2006

University of Charleston will accept Dow's gift of building

George Hohmann, Charleston Daily Mail, September 26, 2006

The University of Charleston's board of trustees has agreed to accept The Dow Chemical Co.'s gift of the office tower in South Charleston known as Building 82, university President Ed Welch said.

"We're extraordinarily grateful to Dow Chemical for making the offer of what they call Building 82 and some 6 1/2 acres surrounding it in South Charleston," Welch said. "The board of trustees decided at their meeting on Friday that we would move forward on accepting their generous offer, and we will take possession of the property as soon as the legal work can be completed."

Dow announced in December it would give the university the 11-story office tower. The university had said it wanted to turn the brick building on MacCorkle Avenue into living quarters for about 100 of the graduate students who will attend the university's new pharmacy school.

But Welch said Monday the university is studying all of its options.

It was reported last week that enrollment at the university is at a 20-year high. "The university obviously is in a period of growth," Welch said. "We have wonderful enrollment news. It's gratifying people are taking notice. While we're in a period of growth and expanding programs, having this additional site to add to the main campus and the Watt Powell Park location gives us alternatives as we plan for the future.

"Over the next six to 12 months we will decide, definitely, how we can best use the South Charleston property for the benefit of the university.

"We thought we would do graduate housing," he said. "We're now thinking that's not the only use or perhaps the best use, so we're open to other alternatives as well. We're going to explore what those are.

"We have said publicly we're exploring a second graduate professional school," Welch said. "South Charleston could be the location for that graduate professional school. Leasing out a part of the building is a possibility. Lots of uses are options. At this point I don't want to rule in or out any particular one."

UC took nine months to decide whether to accept the gift.

"We wanted to make sure we thoroughly understood the site and what was there," Welch said.

"We wanted to be prudent in regard to our environmental research, how the property had been used, the current state of the building. That includes everything from the underground water to the air quality to the quality of the land and soil. We wanted to be prudent about what we did and we have been."

It also took time to estimate renovation costs "because we know there are some things we would have to invest in," such as the heating and cooling system, Welch said. "So carrying out that study of what it would cost to utilize the building was another facet of the work we needed to do."

Welch said $9 million to $10 million is the high end of renovation cost estimates, "if we wanted to renovate it for housing. Other uses are not as intensive because you don't need to have individually controlled air temperature in every unit or put in bathrooms. That's part of the calculus of deciding what we do next."

The asbestos report on the building "turned out more positively than we forecast," he said. "There is some in the floor tiles, for instance, but that's typical of a building that age."

The city of South Charleston has expressed an interest in acquiring the land that is behind the building. Welch said his comment about exploring all options applies to both the building and the land.

"We've been spending most of our time deciding whether accepting the gift is what we wanted to do," he said. "Now that we've made that judgment, we can turn our attention to how to best utilize the property."

Welch said that when the university signed a letter of intent with Dow Chemical in February, "we had worked out most of the details of the agreement. So there are just a couple of details to be discussed. We forecast we will have a very positive outcome."

The details of the agreement will remain confidential, he said.

Welch said Allan Fowler, the head of Dow Chemical's West Virginia operations, was notified of the trustees' decision over the weekend and that he and Fowler talked about it on Monday.

Fowler said Monday afternoon, "They were doing their due diligence and of course we had completed our due diligence even before the offer. We were glad to hear their due diligence was successful and that they want to proceed to the negotiation.

"As Ed said, we have a few loose ends to clear up. We'll be doing that over the next several weeks. Hopefully that will lead to the culmination of the donation."

Welch said the university's faculty and staff were to be told of the trustees' decision today.

Dow Chemical has valued the gift at $7 million, although the property was valued at $4.2 million on the tax rolls. The building, constructed in 1948, has been mostly vacant for about two years. Dow still occupies about one-half of one floor in the building.

Contact writer George Hohmann at 348-4836.

Posted by bhola at 03:13 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2006

Cambridge City Council flares up over fired janitor, also condemns Dow Chemical over Bhopal (not necessarily in that order)

Harvard University no saint in Saintely Paul’s firing, resolution says; Council proclaims December 3 as “Cambridge Day of Remembrance for Victims of Industrial Disasters and Pollution”

VIRGINIA A. FISHER, HARVARD CRIMSON, SEPTEMBER 26, 2006

Cambridge’s city council took on so-called corporate injustice at its meeting in City Hall last night.

The council passed a resolution in support of Saintely Paul, a Harvard janitor who was fired in June after his supervisor found him unconscious at work.

Paul claims he had previously told his supervisor about his fainting spells, for which he was seeking medical attention.

Paul addressed the council, recounting his story in his native Haitian Creole through an interpreter.

“My supervisor came in and took a picture of me while I was unconscious,” he said. “The next day when I came in, my boss told me I had no job. I was fired.”

Rebecca D. Rosenberg is a fifth-year psychology graduate student who works in William James Hall, where Paul worked for more than six years.

She read a letter from students, faculty, and staff: “None of us has ever seen Saintely take so much as a short break. We have never seen him sit down, let alone lie down.”

Councillor Marjorie C. Decker, a frequent Harvard critic, was more frank.

“Harvard is a corporation, and unfortunately what they teach in their classrooms is not what they put into practice in their corporate dealings,” she said.

The resolution, which passed unopposed, called on the University to rehire Paul and compensate him for back pay and medical bills incurred while he was unemployed and uninsured.

“We will be expecting a response from Harvard on what we’ve heard tonight,” added Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio.

Harvard News Office Director Joe Wrinn would not comment on the resolution because the case is in arbitration.

The council also made a gesture against global injustice with two resolutions condemning The Dow Chemical Company for an industrial disaster in Bhopal, India in 1984 which killed more than 15,000 people, according to Amnesty International. In a related resolution, the council proclaimed Dec. 3 as “Cambridge Day of Remembrance for Victims of Industrial Disasters and Pollution.”

The resolutions were formulated by the Greater Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal, a group of representatives from human rights and India-focused organizations.

One resolution calls for the city’s retirement funds to divest from Dow. The other requested the city manager to assess whether the city uses Dow products.

Kaveri Rajaraman, a third-year student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said Bhopal, where she has relatives, is still severely polluted from the spill of heavier-than-air toxic gas.

“This resolution will be much needed support for the disaster’s survivors,” she said. “They have not been forgotten.”

Staff writer Virginia A. Fisher can be reached at vafisher@fas.harvard.edu.

Posted by bhola at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

Letter to the Charleston Gazette

September 24, 2006

I never worked for Dow or Union Carbide, but I am somewhat sadly amused by their series of advertisements in the newspapers, magazines and on television about their interest in the “human element.” Seems to me that their only interest in the human element was to see how many of them they could get rid of and how fast they could do it.

Posted by bhola at 06:05 AM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2006

Water promises to pour profits: multinational companies invest in technologies to slake worldwide thirst (but not apparently in Bhopal)

Claudia H. Deutsch, the New York Times, September 24, 2006

Everyone knows there is a lot of money to be made in oil. But a group of big businesses is discovering there may be even greater profit in a more prosaic liquid: water.

"You've got exploding urban populations, increased pollution and a need to address those things in a meaningful way," said Ian Barbour, general manager of Dow Chemical's Water Solutions unit. "Of course, we're investing significantly in the water business."

Most analysts expect the water market in the United States to be worth at least $150 billion by 2010. And it may happen even sooner than that.

Arid cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix already grapple with sporadic water shortages. New York City's water -- once lauded for its purity -- is getting cloudy, and the American Society of Civil Engineers has given the pipes and other parts of the country's creaky water system a D minus.

Globally, water problems are even more immediate. Many experts estimate that water-related equipment and services already make up a $400 billion global market.

"Water is a growth driver for as long and far as the eye can see," said Deane Dray, who follows many water companies for Goldman Sachs. Lots of others agree.

GE Energy Financial Services recently its first investment in water: $18 million in a wastewater reclamation plant in Atlanta. Alex Urquhart, the unit's president, said he wanted to be holding $1 billion in water assets before long.

General Electric's industrial executives have even higher aspirations.

In the last few years, GE has bought four water companies: Betz Dearborn in 2001, then Osmonics, Ionics and, most recently, Zenon Environmental Systems, which makes ultrafiltration membranes.

"Our water portfolio now runs the gamut of technologies that industrial customers, the Chinese government or the New York municipal water authority could need," said Jeff Garwood, president of GE Water and Process Technologies.

Siemens, the German conglomerate whose units often compete with GE, makes the same claim.

It bought U.S. Filter, once a premier stand-alone water company, for nearly $1 billion in 2004 and has acquired six smaller companies since.

"There isn't a water-treatment platform that we don't now have the technology to address," said Roger Radke, president of Siemens Water Technologies, which accounted for about $2.4 billion of Siemen's $96.4 billion in revenue last year.

Chemical companies are taking an interest, too. Dow, which has made water-softening resins and membranes for treating water for 20 years, bought Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering, a Chinese company that adds three more technologies to Dow's portfolio.

Posted by bhola at 01:30 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2006

Dow Chemical and other chemical makers blamed for pollution: the groundwater mess in Lake Mary stems from instructions on how to discard trichloroethene, a suit alleges

Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel, September 23, 2006

Lake Mary, Seminole County, Florida

SANFORD -- The former owner of a telephone-equipment plant that sits idle atop a plume of chemical-laced groundwater is suing some of the country's biggest chemical manufacturers, blaming them for the pollution.

MONI Holdings LLC alleges the companies that sold the solvents -- not the ones that bought and used them -- are responsible for the pollution.

It says solvent manufacturers told customers to discard the chemical -- trichloroethene, or TCE -- by spreading it on the ground and allowing it to evaporate, according to the suit.

The results, according to the suit, were disastrous. Not only is the water beneath the plant now contaminated, dozens of former workers say they contracted cancer and other serious illnesses because of it.

The suit, filed Thursday in state Circuit Court, names Dow Chemical Company and 18 other manufacturers.

The groundwater beneath the old Siemens-Stromberg parcel at 400 Rinehart Road in Lake Mary has long been the subject of pollution claims, cleanup orders and lawsuits.

This is the first time a company that operated the plant -- there were at least five -- has conceded that the TCE used there was the source of the contamination and blamed someone other than another operator.

The plant was built in 1968 by General Dynamics, which began manufacturing telephone switches there under the name Stromberg.

MONI is a Delaware holding company, formerly known as Marconi Holdings LLC, that owned and operated the plant from the mid-1980s into the '90s. The facility was then sold to Siemens AG, which operated it until its closure in 2003.

The groundwater contamination was discovered in 2001 when Lake Mary, looking for a new source of municipal drinking water, drilled a 560-foot-deep well on Siemens' land, near its plant.

The water it produced tested positive for TCE, a common industrial solvent that former plant employees say they used for years to degrease the telephone switches they made. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection concluded the plant used TCE until 1986.

The city now uses water from that well, but MONI paid $2.1 million for scrubbers to make it safe, according to court records.

That is money Dow and the other chemical manufacturers should have to repay, according to the suit. They also should have to pay for cleaning up the toxins still in the groundwater and for any fallout from the workers' lawsuits, according to the suit.

Dow knew about the potential pollution dangers from TCE as far back as 1965 but kept them secret, according to the suit.

The suit also accuses Dow and the other chemical manufacturers of failing to properly test their solvents and warn customers about the potential harm to groundwater.

"MONI is wholly without fault for the contamination of the groundwater with TCE...," according to the suit.

Dow spokeswoman Jeannine Sohayda would not comment Friday, saying the company had not seen a copy of the suit.

But Paul Byron, an Orlando attorney who represents three dozen former plant workers who say the contaminated water made them sick, said he was thrilled with the MONI suit.

"I think it's fantastic," Byron said. "Everyone is now in agreement that TCE is in the ground, and it's at dangerous levels. . . . It's always helpful when the other side says, 'Yes, you're right.' "

The former plant employees have had little success in court. In May, a federal judge in Orlando rejected their key argument -- that the property's current owners, two land companies that never operated the plant, should have to pay for making them sick.

Workers have since begun a new round of suits in state Circuit Court in Sanford demanding that the plant's former operators -- including MONI -- pay damages.

Rene Stutzman can be reached at rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-324-7294.

Posted by bhola at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2006

Dump Dow because of Bhopal disaster

Nate Stell, Cambridge Chronicle, September 21, 2006

The City Council will vote on a series of resolutions next Monday that reprimand Dow Chemical for an industrial disaster that occurred 22 years ago, and which it did not cause. Wait a minute, what’s this all about, and why should anyone give a darn?

The disaster in question occurred in the city of Bhopal, India. On Dec. 3, 1984, 27 tons of poisonous gas leaked from a pesticide plant on the edge of this densely populated city. The residents received no warning because not one of the plant’s six safety systems was functioning. More than 3,000 people died immediately, and many thousands more would die in the following years from the long-term complications caused by gas exposure. To date, more than 20,000 are lost as a result of this catastrophe, and more than 120,000 are permanently disabled.

This was not a tragedy — the accident was due to gross criminal neglect. A few years before the disaster, three smaller poison gas leaks killed one plant worker and injured dozens more, yet the repeated calls from the workers to repair the deteriorating facility fell on deaf ears. The Indian courts found the evidence against the plant’s parent company, Union Carbide, compelling enough to charge it with culpable homicide, yet has steadfastly refused to honor the subpoenas to address those charges in court.

Dow Chemical purchased Union Carbide outright in 2001, and in doing so took on its liabilities. Nevertheless, Dow refuses to respect the jurisdiction of the Indian court system. It also refuses to consider the justice of Union Carbide’s victim compensation package, which provided for roughly five years’ worth of medical costs to victims with chronic complications. It is a profound insult to human dignity for Dow to ignore a matter of such moral and legal importance, especially when it is well within the company’s reach to do the right thing. So long as the victims’ suffering remains unanswered, the Bhopal chemical disaster will stand as an international symbol of impunity, disrespect for the rule of law, and basic human rights.

Cambridge has an admirable reputation of taking the lead on some of the most important human rights and social justice issues of the times. I hope it will come out in support of Monday’s resolutions, one of which asks the Cambridge Retirement System to co-file a Dow shareholder resolution on behalf of the victims. Another requests the city’s purchasing department to replace Dow Chemical products with alternatives until the company addresses its liabilities to the Bhopal disaster victims. The passage of such measures will notify Dow that people are seriously concerned with the way it conducts business.

NATE STELL

Coalition for Justice in Bhopal, Somerville

Posted by bhola at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

Consumers push for cleaner business practice

Stephanie Whittaker, Montreal Gazette, September 19, 2006

Melissa Garcia-Lamarca, coordinator of Concordia University's sustainability program, checks the enviro-composters atop the Hall Building.

Photograph by : GORDON BECK, THE GAZETTE


Corporate leaders say they're responding to demands that businesses operate in a more environmentally responsible way. From now until Dec. 12, a weekly series of stories will put the claim to the test.

Hindsight will tell you that most trends that reshape the social, economic or political landscape often start with a pivotal event. Or several.

Ask people in the environmental field about the origins of sustainable development and they will cite several major environmental disasters in 1970s and '80s: the Love Canal toxic waste dump in upstate New York and the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India, for instance, as events that awakened the world to the need for change.

It has been two decades since the UN's Brundtland Commission coined the term "sustainable development" to describe the concept of maintaining a balance between human activity and protection of the environment. Since then, the term has entered common parlance and the practice of conducting business in a sustainable way is being increasingly knit into the very fabric of corporate operations and cultures.

"Industry hit the bottom of the barrel when these disasters occurred" said Michael Clog- hesy, president of the Quebec Business Council on the Environment.

"Twenty or 30 years ago, companies viewed the environment as a cost. They came to the realization that they couldn't continue this way," said Cloghesy, whose organization was founded in 1993 by 40 Quebec companies and associations representing various sectors of the economy.

Now, Cloghesy said, there is an understanding throughout the corporate milieu that being green is as good for the bottom line as it is for the environment. It's a matter of optics and of meeting the demands of consumers.

In fact, said Brenda Plant, co-founder and director of Ethiquette, a firm that consults to small and medium businesses on sustainability, a growing number of consumers are using their clout to demand "socially responsible" goods and services. And business is responding.

"Although we don't have numbers for Canada, we know that in the U.S. about 30 per cent of the population is in a demographic called LOHAS, which stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability," Plant said. ''These are consumers who are concerned with sustainable business and they buy goods and services worth $227 billion U.S. per year."

Whether business is motivated to go green by altruism or profit is largely moot, say environmental experts. The end result is positive.

"The first wave of sustainable business was driven by founders who had those values," Plant said. "Two examples of that would be Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and the Body Shop. And in small and medium-sized businesses, the founder's personal passion continues to be the motivation. In larger companies, regulatory pressure and public image are the main drivers."

Another push toward corporate responsibility has been a series of public-relations crises that have hurt various brand images, Plant said. "Shell, Nike and Gap come to mind. Companies have learned that it's much harder to clean up your image than to start out on the right foot from the beginning," she said.

(During the 1990s, shoe and clothing manufacturer Nike and clothing retailer The Gap both faced global censure because of their overseas sweatshops. Shell faced censure for its work in Nigeria after the trial and execution of KenSaro-Wiwa and eight other activists.)

"It takes four years for a company to repair its image. It's easier to do preventative work than to do crisis management."

Business-to-business companies are also facing pressure from suppliers and clients, Cloghesy said. "When your client says: 'I want 50 per cent recycled material in my product and if I don't get it, I'll go elsewhere,' you're dealing with market forces that go beyond government regulation."

His organization now boasts 180 members. "Our purpose is to get a unified position on draft regulations," he said. "I've lobbied for regulations for hazardous waste in Quebec. The province's regulations in this area were 20 years out of date and it was causing problems for the private sector. When the government comes out with regulations, we urge them to set emissions limits and we deal with how we'll attain them."

For all the good intentions, the move to more sustainable practice is in its infancy, and there's a long way to go, said Steven Guilbeault, director of Greenpeace Quebec.

"One can only salute the fact that more companies and governments are talking about sustainable development. But is there less pollution out there? Are we tackling climate change?" Guilbeault said.

The automotive industry is a dinosaur, a pocket of resistance, Guilbeault said. "There are roughly 100,000 new vehicles on Quebec roads every year. Can we sustain that?

"And in the oil and gas sector, a few companies are willing to tackle the problem, but there are others that couldn't care less."

Plant said the corporate milieu knows there's a business case for sustainability. "It makes good business sense," she said. "You save money by integrating energy-efficiency techniques. It might cost more initially, but companies recoup that cost over the long term."

Marc Duchesne, director of corporate responsibility and environment at Bell Canada, said social responsibility in his company is "tied into global performance."

"We think that being corporately responsible makes us accountable to our stakeholders," he said. "To thrive, we have to respond to shareholders, clients and the community at large."

He said the company recycles 1,000 tons of paper and cardboard yearly, 1,300 tonnes of hazardous waste, 277 tons of parts from its fleet of vehicles and 745 tonnes of telephone poles that are removed from use. "About 33 per cent of our waste goes to landfill and 67 per cent is diverted," he said. "We want to raise that by five per cent by 2008."

He said the company is also working on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its fleet of 8,000 vehicles and 3,000 buildings across Canada.

"We don't call this sustainable development. We call it corporate responsibility," he said.

Other institutions, especially universities, are proving to be incubators of the new thinking, which is spreading into the corporate realm. Concordia, for one, has a program called R4 (rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle) that is saving the university money.

The program was created by students Melissa Garcia-Lamarca and Geneva Guerin for course credit. The two conducted, with the help of 100 student volunteers, a sustainability assessment of the university, based on a 171-indicator program created by another student at Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C. They produced a 400-page document from which they have since implemented the university's sustainability program. R4 has since spread to 35 other universities across North America.

One example of how the program has benefited the university and the environment simultaneously is the change in paper consumption. Concordia bought $500,000 worth of paper in the 2002-2003 school year. By 2005-2006, the cost of paper consumption was down to $76,000.

There have also been changes in how the institution handles its waste through recycling and the composting of cafeteria food, among other programs.

"Companies and institutions are waking up and seeing that this is not only good for the environment but also for the bottom line," Beaudoin said. "Consumers are now looking at companies and expecting them to have more values and to act upon them. And businesses want to know what consumers want. What consumers want is no human rights violations in the products they buy and a respect for the environment."

Garcia-Lamarca said organizations are waking up to the fact "the more efficiently they use resources, the more they reduce operating costs and boost profitability. We're starting to see a lot of leadership in this area," she said.

Posted by bhola at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)

Two workers remain hospitalized after fire at Dow

Plaquemine, Westside Bureau, September 16, 2006

PLAQUEMINE — Two of three contract workers injured in an electrical arc fire at Dow Chemical’s Louisiana Operations site remain under treatment in local burn treatment unit, a company spokesman said Friday. The third worker injured was released Thursday night, the spokesman said.

An arc fire occurs when electrical insulation is broken, causing an electric current to pass through the air, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

The incident occurred about 8:45 a.m. Thursday as the three were performing maintenance after a recent electrical line failure caused by lightning, Dow spokesman Gary Cambre said.

At the request of the victims’ families, Dow is not releasing the contract workers’ names or the name of their employer, Cambre said.

The circumstances that led to the flash fire remain unclear.

The flash is immediate, but the these incidents may cause severe injury including burns, the association reported.

The two still under care are in a burn treatment unit at a local hospital, he said.

Posted by bhola at 06:55 PM | Comments (0)

Dow, Plaquemine: flash fire injures 3 line crew workers

JOHN A. COLVIN, THE ADVOCATE, SEPTEMBER 15, 2006

A flash fire at Dow Chemical’s Louisiana Operations site in Plaquemine sent three contract employees to the hospital Thursday.

The employees were part of a line crew performing preventive maintenance following a recent electrical line failure as a result of lightning, Dow spokesman Gary Cambre said.

Dow did not release the victims’ names or their employer’s name to assure all of the families are notified.

Shortly after the 8:45 a.m. incident, ambulances transported the victims to a hospital, and Dow began an official, internal investigation, Cambre said.

Although the investigation is incomplete, Cambre said an electrical arc fire is to blame.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, an arc fire occurs when electrical insulation is broken, causing an electric current to pass through the air.

The flash is immediate, but the result of these incidents can cause severe injury including burns, according to the organization’s Web site. Each year, more than 2,000 people are treated in burn centers with severe arc-flash injuries.

The Dow site had not experienced any chemical or environmental releases due to the incident, and its operations continued uninterrupted, Cambre said Thursday afternoon.

The conditions of the electrical workers or the severity of the injuries were unknown Thursday afternoon.

Posted by bhola at 06:36 PM | Comments (0)

A flammable neighbourhood

Marcela Valente, Tierramérica, Argentina, September 14, 2006

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 14 (IPS) - Three thousand people live below the smoke stacks of petroleum refineries and alongside chemical storage sites, among rubbish and debris, and foul bodies of water, in "Villa Inflamable", a slum along the banks of the Matanza-Riachuelo river, which runs across the Argentine capital.

"That's downtown Buenos Aires," María del Carmen Brite tells Tierramérica, pointing towards the city's tall buildings in the distance. "If this explodes, we're all going with it," says the woman, a member of the Villa Inflamable Development Partnership.

The entire 2,240-square-kilometer basin is polluted. From the point where it begins, west of the city, to where it flows into the Río de la Plata (River Plate), the lack of sewerage treatment, and wastewater and runoff from the 3,000 companies located in the area have severely harmed the river. But the lower portion is in the most critical condition.

Brite is one of the 144 people who two years ago filed a lawsuit for environmental damage against the government and the 44 companies of the nearby industrial complex, known as the Polo Petroquímico Dock Sud. The case reached the Supreme Court of Justice, which in June issued a ruling requiring the government and the firms to present a clean-up plan.

On Sep. 5, at a public judicial hearing, Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development Romina Picolotti acknowledged that Dock Sud holds "a potentially explosive combination" of industrial installations and announced that the 11 chemical deposits would be relocated within a year.

She also promised that the affected population will be "a top priority" of the plan. While long-term measures are being set up, clean water will be distributed to the residents, as well as a special dietary supplement intended to neutralise the negative health effects of the contamination.

"They must think that because we're poor we are stupid," protested Brite, who barely gets by on a 50-dollar monthly subsidy for unemployed heads of household.

The neighbourhood is in the town of Avellaneda, just outside the southern Buenos Aires city limits. The Riachuelo there is "a filthy sewer," says Brite's attorney, Jorge Iturraspe.

The water is nearly black, flowing opaque and oily. Plastic bottles float by like waterlilies on the surface, and the river banks are covered in garbage. "Anything can turn up here. Even a cadaver," says Brite.

According to Picolotti, there are no epidemiological studies that verify the connection between the industry active in the area and the residents' health problems, though she admitted that the pollution does indeed exist.

There is only one study, by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, according to which 50 percent of the children ages seven to 11 in Villa Inflamable have traces of lead in their blood and 10 percent with chlorine in their urine.

Brite is 49 and has nine children. She has lived in Villa Inflamable since 1976. In 1998 she had to be hospitalised when she was pregnant. "Everything was swollen. They had to intubate me," she recalls.

She blames the clean-up of a chemical storage site belonging to Union Carbide, the same company responsible for the 1984 explosion in Bhopal, India, which claimed the lives of 8,000 people.

Her daughter, Camila, eight, was born with fetal stress. At age five she had haemorrhagic measles and lost some of her breathing capacity. Twelve children in Villa Inflamable have died because of the virus transmitted by that illness, she said.

And her son, Emir, 10, developed a rash one rainy day. The doctors diagnosed "poisoning from acid."

Her three-year-old son Yair was hospitalised for a week this year because of difficulty breathing, and was referred to the hospital's poisoning unit. "They ask us to test for toluene, benzene and lead, but the reactive agents are very expensive," Brite said.

She has no doubt that these health problems have environmental causes. And she remembers with sadness her son Rodrigo, who died at birth -- presumably from anencephaly -- and her first grandchild, who was lost to sudden infant death syndrome.

María Alejandra Sciarreta, who is also a plaintiff in the case that reached the Supreme Court, is 34 and receives a government subsidy similar to what Brite gets. Three of her nine children attend a school for the disabled. Two have lead in the blood. One was hospitalised twice in the La Plata Children's Hospital due to vomiting and dizziness. "Now he has many behavioural problems at school," she said.

According to the National Children's Defence Office, for Villa Inflamable "there is no remedy possible." What is needed is to relocate the 800 families living there, in addition to dismantling the industrial complex.

Alfredo Alberti lives across from Villa Inflamable, in the Buenos Aires district of La Boca, where he can smell the fumes coming from the Riachuelo and the chemical plants.

"They can't allow people to live exposed to these levels of pollution. They want to move the families just 10 blocks from here, along the Sarandí stream, which is the same rubbish," Alberti said.

"We don't want to move there," Brite agreed, adding, "here the clouds can walk. The chemicals release gases and we pray that the wind will carry them to the river, because if the cloud stops over your house, you're a goner."

(*Marcela Valente is an IPS correspondent. Originally published Sep. 9 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)

Posted by bhola at 06:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2006

Dow Chemical under fire

An environmental group is taking aim at Dow Chemical.

JENNIFER BORRASSO, ABC12 NEWS, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006

SAGINAW COUNTY (WJRT) - (09/19/06)--The Lone Tree Council group held a press conference on Tuesday saying that Dow Chemical may be planning to dump dioxin into a dredge disposal facility site being built alongside the Saginaw River.

Lone Tree Council members say the proof is in documents they obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Right now construction on a storage facility for dredged material from the Saginaw River is still underway.

Crews are building a 281 acre site, which straddles the Zilwaukee- Frankenlust Township line, in both Saginaw and Bay counties.

The disposal site is expected to be done by October. Dredging will start sometime next summer to allow ships to easily come in and out of the River.

Now, Lone Tree Council says an April 2006 EPA memo says that Dow has looked into the option of putting other spoils contaminated with dioxins at the disposal site.

The group argues the Army Corps of Engineers has discussed the plan with Dow without public scrutiny or input.

And, the site is not designed to contain the highly dioxin-contaminated materials that Dow eventually must remove from the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay.

"Why are we taking on liability for Dow Chemical's contamination?" asked Loan Tree Council member Michelle Hurd Riddle. "Under Dow's corrective license, Dow is responsible for the sediments in the Saginaw River. It is their responsibility to clean it up and dispose of it. That liability is being passed on to taxpayers of Saginaw county."

A Dow spokesman says the company is looking at the site. He goes on to say if the company decides to put waste there they would put money towards improving the dump site.

Jennifer Borrasso

Posted by bhola at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2006

Verdict of over $18.5 Million for aerospace plastics molder suffering from mesothelioma

PR WEB, SEPTEMBER 11, 2006

A jury ruled in favor of a former plastics molder suffering from mesothelioma, assessing over $18.5 million in damages against Union Carbide Corporation, a former asbestos mining and manufacturing company. The plaintiff was represented by mesothelioma lawyers Gilbert Purcell and John Goldstein, both of Brayton Purcell.

San Francisco, CA (PRWeb) September 9, 2006 -- On September 1, 2006, a jury ruled in favor of a former plastics molder suffering from mesothelioma, assessing over $18.5 million in damages against Union Carbide Corporation, a former asbestos mining and manufacturing company. Union Carbide was negligent and failed to provide warnings about its defective open asbestos fiber product RG-144, according to the jury. It assessed $3,223,450 in economic damages and $15,300,000 in non-economic damages.

The plaintiff, David Bakkie, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in September 2005. Caused by asbestos exposure, mesothelioma is an invariably fatal cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs.

“We are very gratified with the jury decision and thankful for their efforts,” said Gilbert Purcell, counsel for Mr. Bakkie. “Mr. Bakkie is a wonderful, deserving man and the jury process didn’t let him down.” Gilbert Purcell, along with John Goldstein of Brayton Purcell, represented David Bakkie.

Mr. Bakkie worked with asbestos-containing products, including asbestos-insulated cables and electrical switch gear. While employed during the mid-1970s at American Polytherm, a Sacramento aerospace plastics molding company, Mr. Bakkie worked with Union Carbide Corporation’s open fiber asbestos product RG-144. American Polytherm was using the Union Carbide asbestos fiber in the manufacture of a canal sealant widely used on projects including the California Aqueduct to fill the seams between concrete sections.

Union Carbide was a leading manufacturer of Calidria™ asbestos, mined at its King City mine near Fresno, California. It supplied asbestos to manufacturers of various products including floor tile, epoxy adhesives, sealants, wall board joint and taping compounds.

The case was David Bakkie v. Union Carbide Corporation, San Francisco Superior Court, No. 445300.

About Brayton Purcell

For over 20 years, Brayton Purcell has helped clients protect their legal rights in the face of devastating losses such as illness, injuries, and harm to family members. The law firm enjoys a national reputation for the high quality of its personal injury and product liability work, particularly in the area of asbestos litigation. For more information, call 415-898-1555 or visit the firm web site at http://www.braytonlaw.com.

For information about asbestos and asbestos-related diseases, see the firm’s web sites, Mesothelioma Network, http://www.mesotheliomasite.com and Asbestos Network, http://www.asbestosnetwork.com.

Posted by bhola at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2006

Boy injured by chemical waste goes home

KUENSEL ONLINE, BHUTAN, SEPTEMBER 10, 2006

23 August 2006 : After more than six months in hospital and numerous skin grafting surgeries on both limbs knee-below, Tsheten Dorji was discharged from the national referral hospital in Thimphu yesterday.

The 11-year-old who suffered third degree burns from chemical waste dumped by Bhutan Carbide and Chemicals Limited in Pasakha, Phuentsholing, told Kuensel he was excited to go home and to school.

He limped dragging his two bandaged limbs with the help of crutches. “It hurts when I use force on the legs and I cannot properly bend my right leg,” he told Kuensel perched on a vacant stretcher at the corridor.

For the moment his worry is whether his school would take him in and put him in his promoted class. “I passed from class II,” he said. He suffered from the burns on February 11, a week before school started after winter vacation.

Dr. Tshewang Thinley said the boy was walking with difficulty. The limbs were stiff and few toes had been lost.

The boy’s mother told Kuensel the BCCL made a compensation of Nu. 16,000. “I am worried if he will be normal again and can attend school,” she said.

Posted by bhola at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2006

Granholm 'ready to eat' Republicans

DEAN BOHN, THE SAGINAW NEWS, SEPTEMBER 10, 2006

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm made two stops in mid-Michigan Saturday afternoon - to applaud Dow Chemical's new Michigan Operations manufacturing site in Midland and to cheer Democrats and boo Republicans at the Saginaw County Democratic Party fall banquet in Saginaw Township.

The Dow event was a rededication of the manufacturing site with more than $240 million in recent and planned investments in production facilities by several Dow businesses, including Dow AgroSciences, Dow Automotive, DowPharma, Saran Products and the Water Soluble Polymers business.

Dow Chemical Chairman Andrew N. Liveris said the manufacturing site is "one of the most exciting events in the history of Dow," and it will help Dow "compete in a marketplace fraught with global competitiveness."

The site should add 160 full time jobs and retain 45 more -- jobs that "pay 28 percent higher than any other manufacturing jobs" and "contribute $11.7 billion to the state economy," Liveris said.

Granholm said if Dow can do it, the rest of Michigan can as well.

"Our economic plan in Michigan is proceeding in the middle of an economic crisis," she said. "But sometimes it takes a crisis to get things done. It's been said, 'A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.'"

She said her "Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow" plan will diversify state jobs and move away from the state's dependence on the automotive industry. The plan focuses on industries based on life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing and homeland security and defense technology.

At the Democratic Party banquet, Granholm said she was "ready to eat some Republicans."

"This is a year that Democrats can be loud and proud," she said. "Historically, this party has stood up for the everyday man. The Democrats gave us Social Security, minimum wage law, Medicare and Medicaid, Civil Rights Act, Voters Rights Act, the Parental Leave Act and more.

"In contrast, (the Republicans) believe that if we give enough to the folks at the very top, it'll eventually trickle down to the rest of us. Well, there's enough wealth to the powerful few at the top. We've seen enough of that.

"Michigan is challenged," she said. "Why?"

"Engler!" a shout from the audience responded, a reference to the state's former governor -- which caused Granholm to pause and laugh.

"(John) Engler certainly left me a mess, but the challenge is that the automotive industry - GM, Ford, Delphi - has left."

Granholm also targeted President Bush, saying he took time to meet American Idol winner Taylor Hicks but never took the time to meet any of leaders of the Big Three automakers.

"The president said (the automakers have) got to make a viable product," she said. "Those are fighting words. There's a new car owner born in North America every 12 seconds.

"This president has also failed to enforce the trade agreements, and one of his top advisors said outsourcing jobs is good for America."

In attacking her Republican opponent in the race for governor, Dick DeVos, Granholm said DeVos promotes himself "as a jobs-maker."

"He's created jobs -- in China," she said. "That's not a thing the governor of Michigan should be doing. When he was the head of Amway he cut 1,400 Michigan jobs. He's not a part of the solution, he's part of the problem."

Granholm said she inherited a $4 billion deficit but still, with the help of tobacco settlement money, she proposes -- and says the state can afford -- to give a $4,000 scholarship to every Michigan student that completes two years of post-secondary education.

"We're also going to lead this country in affordable health care with a program that will be up and running in April.

"We've also accelerated 10 years of building projects to be completed in three years."

However, she said she needs retain her office to see it through.

"We need more Democrats in office. The Republican motto is, 'It's every man for himself when the ship is going down,' but the Democratic motto is, "All hands on deck.'"

Dean Bohn is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9679.

Posted by bhola at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

Dow closing Hahnville PXC plant

THE TIMES-PICAYUNE, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006

HAHNVILLE, La. -- Dow Chemical will close a plant here, cutting 40 jobs.

The closure of the peroxymeric chemical plant was announced in a news release Wednesday. It comes as Dow Epoxy announced its exit from the business of making the product, which is used in products ranging from electrical equipment to roofing material.

The PXC plant is one of 16 production facilities at the Hahnville site that employ 2,000 employees and contractors, the statement said.

Employees at the plant will have the opportunity to work elsewhere in the complex, which is owned by Union Carbide, a Dow subsidiary.

Posted by bhola at 04:18 AM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2006

Dow Announces formation of water solutions business (now what excuse will it find for not cleaning up Bhopal's water?)

As reported over the last few months on Bhopal.Net, Dow has spotted an opportunity in the worldwide lack of clean drinking water both to boost its profits and its sagging image, which its recent ludicrous ad campaign has done little to improve. As we reported on June 30, 2006, Dow bought a Chinese company which gave it the necessary skills to launch its new water venture. Would they use the technology to clean up Bhopal, we asked? Well, they have since made a great fanfare at the UN about their commitment to clean water for the people of the planet, but ask them about their responsibilities in Bhopal and answer comes there none. The truth is of course that Dow is only interested in the huge profits to be made from selling water to the thirsty. Its humanitarian statements are unfortunately just drivel.

DOW PRESS RELEASE, SEPTEMBER 8, 2006

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) has announced the formation of Dow Water Solutions, a business unit comprised of world-class brands and enabling component technologies designed to advance the science of desalination, water purification, contaminant removal and water recycling.

The new business becomes the Company's fourth market facing business. Applying similar business models as Dow Building Solutions, Dow Automotive and Dow AgroSciences, the unit will focus on proactively meeting the needsof the Company's water industry customers by leveraging the full breadthand depth of capabilities and technologies found within its value centers and across the Company.

"This move underscores Dow's commitment to strengthen its Performance business portfolio by prioritizing marketing and application development activities that support high-value, end-use applications," explained Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer, The Dow Chemical Company."Dow Water Solutions will provide a range of competitive water treatment products that allow our customers to stimulate and capture industry growth, while continuing to improve access to higher quality water supplies thatare more affordable and sustainable for communities and industries worldwide."

Part of Dow's strategy is to focus on developing more technology-driven, market facing businesses to accelerate a portfolio shift to Performance businesses, driving higher growth and more consistent profitability for the Company. The new framework for Dow Water Solutions also further solidifies Dow's commitment to provide pure water for both industrial and drinking water applications globally as part of the Company's Sustainability Goals for 2015, announced in May 2006.

"Core to our pursuit of market facing businesses, we will leverage our intimate knowledge of the water industry value chain to work with cities, countries and customers everywhere to apply our best thinking andtechnology in response to the world's growing needs for clean water," said Romeo Kreinberg, Dow's executive vice president, Performance Plastics and Chemicals portfolio. "Dow is dedicated to this business and to the customers and consumers who will benefit from our expansion into thisarea."

With revenues of approximately $350 million, Dow Water Solutions is a performance business unit that maintains five production facilities globally to manufacture, market and sell FILMTEC(TM) reverse osmosismembranes, DOWEX(TM) ion exchange resins, ultrafiltration, and electrodeionization products and other technologies. With over 1,000 employees worldwide, the business is well-positioned to capture much of the industry growth of water and non-water treatment and separations solutions.

"Over the years, we have developed and acquired a selective portfolio of complementary components that are critical to the functionality of water purification systems," said Ian Barbour, general manager, Dow Water Solutions. "Through our technology leadership and expertise in component manufacturing, we are building a leading portfolio of key technologies necessary to address target market needs."

Dow recently expanded its portfolio with three new component technologies, namely Ultrafiltration (UF), Electrodeionization (EDI), andMembrane Bio-Reactors (MBR), through the acquisition of Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd. in July 2006. These technologies will be included in the Dow Water Solutions portfolio, along with existing product offerings in reverse osmosis and ion exchange.

Both UF and MBR are critical to water re-use applications and UF enables the water treatment providers to meet more stringent water quality standards. Dow is already an established leader in reverseosmosis/nanofiltration (RO/NF) membranes and ion exchange resins.

Through development and optimization of these technologies, Dow will offer solutions for specific water purification needs, including seawater desalination, water re-use and small community drinking water systems.

"By offering components as stand-alone or in combination, we canprovide our OEMs with additional value that they could not achieve on their own. We have found that these complementary processes enable production ofthe highest quality water at the lowest attainable cost," said Barbour.

As part of its commitment to water purification, Dow Water Solutions has also announced the successful start-up of the expansion of the FILMTEC(TM) reverse osmosis membrane manufacturing facility at Edina, Minnesota. Dow also recently formed a partnership with Blue Planet Run Foundation to raise awareness and funds for water purification projects.

To find all stories on "Dow" and "water", use these two terms in the search engine

Posted by bhola at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2006

Dow Epoxy to end chemical's production

CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006

Dow Epoxy has announced plans to stop producing a chemical used to make elastomers and protective coatings at the Institute plant by August 2007.

The plant is owned and operated by Bayer CropScience and is one of seven Dow Chemical Co. production facilities at the company's West Virginia Operations site in Institute.

With 550 employees at the site, Bayer is unsure how many will be affected by the closure.

"Only a few employees support this very small Dow unit. And, with production continuing for another year, it is too early to say what, if any, effect this might have on overall employment levels," said Tom Dover, Bayer CropScience spokesman.

On the Dow side, one Union Carbide salaried employee will be affected, said Dow spokeswoman Nikki Orcutt. Dow owns and operates Union Carbide's West Virginia Operations.

"While this decision has a small impact on our overall operations in West Virginia, it does align with our previously announced efforts to reduce infrastructure costs and transition WVO to a small site," said Allan Fowler, West Virginia Operations vice president and site leader.

In March, Dow-owned Union Carbide announced that it would be ending its longtime contract with the Bayer MaterialScience's site in South Charleston effective April 2009, leaving 230 to 330 employees without jobs.

The Institute plant decision was not made locally, Orcutt said.

Posted by bhola at 03:03 AM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2006

Warehouse destroyed in inferno

POLLY RIPON, SHEFFIELD TODAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2006

MORE than 40 firefighters from across South Yorkshire tackled a huge blaze at a Sheffield warehouse last night after the building went up in flames.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing three loud explosions as a huge plume of thick black smoke billowed from the former Union Carbide Factory on Claywheels Lane, Wadsley Bridge.

A full investigation into the cause of the blaze was continuing this morning - and arson is not being ruled out.

The warehouse is less than half a mile from Fletchers bakery which was ravaged by a huge fire in July.

Flames leapt high into the air and could be seen licking at the building from city centre offices three miles away.

At its height the blaze was tackled by eight fire crews from stations in Sheffield and Rotherham.

Eyewitness Maggie Ashton was visiting her daughter in Wadsley when they heard the explosions and alerted the fire service.

She said: "My daughter alerted the emergency services just after 7pm. We heard three huge explosions and saw a large cloud of thick black smoke rising up into the sky.

"I could see all these flames, they were really huge, massive flames and the smoke turned the sky completely grey. All the factory workers were standing outside watching."

Another eyewitness Darren Roberts, 17, said the roof of the warehouse, which is used to huge industrial size bales of paper to be made into toilet rolls and tissues, had collapsed.

He said: "I saw it from across the city in Walkley. We came down here to get a bit closer and see what was going on. We were about 20 yards away from the fire. The flames were as tall as two houses on top of each other. We could see burned pallets of toilet rolls and flaming tissues going up into the air."

Geoff Stevens, of Middlewood Road North, said: "There were plumes of thick, black smoke billowing up into the sky. The explosions sounded like fireworks. At first we thought that was what they were, then we saw the smoke."

Police last night closed off Claywheels Lane as fire crews worked late into the night to tackle the blaze.

They urged residents living in Wadsley to keep their doors and windows closed over night.

Tony Meade, from Central Fire Station, who was in charge of tackling the flames, said "When crews arrived explosions were heard and roller shutter doors had bowed out caused by cylinders exploding against them.

"There was a problem with asbestos in the roof and walls because of the age of the building. The initial clouds of smoke could have caused health problems for local residents but fortunately by the time they reached nearby homes, the clouds had dispersed.

Steve Pashley, from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "When we arrived it was well alight and residents had reported hearing loud explosions coming from the building. We believe that there may have been acetylene cylinders inside."

Mr Pashley said fire crews tackled the blaze from the outside the building and had not entered the warehouse.

Two pumps were still at the scene this morning monitoring the smouldering building.

Posted by bhola at 03:36 AM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2006

AEP to sell Plaquemine cogeneration facility to Dow Chemical

YAHOO FINANCE, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP - News) has reached an agreement to sell its Plaquemine Cogeneration Facility in Plaquemine, La., to The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW - News).

Under terms of the agreement, Dow will pay AEP $64 million at closing. The sale agreement also allows AEP to participate in gross-margin sharing on the Plaquemine facility for five years. Dow will also reduce AEP's existing below- current-market long-term power supply contract with Dow in Texas by 50 megawatts. AEP retains the rights to any judgment paid by Tractebel Energy Marketing Inc. (now known as Suez Energy Marketing N.A. Inc.) for breaching a long-term contract to purchase power generated by the Plaquemine plant. AEP received a judgment of $123 million plus interest in August 2005. That judgment is under appeal.

The sale, which must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and must receive antitrust clearance from the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, is expected to close in December 2006. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to reduce debt.

As a result of the transaction, AEP expects to record a one-time net impairment charge of approximately $136 million, or approximately $0.34 per share, in its third-quarter earnings prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

"Because of Tractebel's breach of contract, the Plaquemine Cogeneration Facility has been a drag on our earnings since it began operating in 2004," said Michael G. Morris, AEP's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "In 2000, when AEP began the project, Tractebel signed a long-term contract to purchase the large quantities of electricity that were not needed by the Dow Chemical complex. We would not have gone forward with the construction without a buyer for that electricity. When Tractebel breached the contract, we were left to contend with attempting to sell the power into an overbuilt, illiquid regional market, which resulted in losses.

"Selling the plant does create a one-time loss, but it eliminates what we project would be an escalation of the plant's ongoing losses," Morris said.

The 880-megawatt Plaquemine Cogeneration Facility has four 170-megawatt gas-fired combustion turbine generators and a 200-megawatt steam turbine. It began commercial operations on March 18, 2004. Steam from the cogeneration facility, located inside Dow Chemical's plant near Baton Rouge, La., is supplied to Dow Chemical. Power output from the plant was to be sold to Tractebel under long-term contract.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 36,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006.

This report made by AEP and certain of its subsidiaries contains forward- looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although AEP and each of its registrant subsidiaries believe that their expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such statements may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: electric load and customer growth; weather conditions, including storms; available sources and costs of, and transportation for, fuels and the creditworthiness of fuel suppliers and transporters; availability of generating capacity and the performance of AEP's generating plants; the ability to recover regulatory assets and stranded costs in connection with deregulation; the ability to build or require generating capacity when needed at acceptable prices and terms and to recover those costs through applicable rate cases or competitive rates; the ability to recover increases in fuel and other energy costs through regulated or competitive electric rates; new legislation, litigation and government regulation including requirements for reduced emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, carbon and other substances; timing and resolution of pending and future rate cases, negotiations and other regulatory decisions (including rate or other recovery for new investments, transmission service and environmental compliance);resolution of litigation (including pending Clean Air Act enforcement actions and disputes arising from the bankruptcy of Enron Corp. and related matters); AEP's ability to constrain its operation and maintenance costs; AEP's ability to sell assets at acceptable prices and on other acceptable terms; the economic climate and growth in AEP's service territory and changes in market demand and demographic patterns; inflationary and interest rate trends; AEP's ability to develop and execute a strategy based on a view regarding prices of electricity, natural gas, and other energy-related commodities; changes in the creditworthiness of the counterparties with whom AEP has contractual arrangements, including participants in the energy trading market; changes in the financial markets, particularly those affecting the availability of capital and AEP's ability to refinance existing debt at attractive rates; actions of rating agencies, including changes in the ratings of debt; volatility and changes in markets for electricity, natural gas, and other energy-related commodities; changes in utility regulation, including implementation of EPACT and membership in and integration into regional transmission structures; accounting pronouncements periodically issued by accounting standard-setting bodies; the performance of AEP's pension and other postretirement benefit plans; prices for power that AEP generates and sells at wholesale; changes in technology, particularly with respect to new, developing or alternative sources of generation, and other risks and unforeseen events, including wars, the effects of terrorism (including increased security costs), embargoes and other catastrophic events.

Posted by bhola at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

Sarnia residents shocked at news Dow plant closing

HANK DANISZEWSKI, LONDON FREE PRESS REPORTER,
AUGUST 31, 2006

SARNIA — Once a giant in Sarnia’s Chemical Valley, Dow Chemical Canada is pulling out of the city by the end of 2008, putting 380 people out of work.

The announcement shocked union and municipal officials and blindsided Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who was in Sarnia Thursday opening a new ethanol plant.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said the closing will strike a nerve in the community where Dow has been a major corporate player for decades.

“It’s a shock and I’m extremely angry. I hope to meet with Dow officials when emotions have calmed down,” Bradley said.

“I think it is a real blow to the valley because Dow has a long history here,” said 35-year company veteran Jim Jeffery. “A lot of people have worked there over the years, thousands and thousands, and Dow has had a place in the community. It is the end of an era.”

Bob Huget, vice-president of the Energy, Communications and Paperworkers union, demanded an immediate meeting with Bradley and McGuinty to stop the closing.

“The quality of the jobs provided and the economic benefit to that community is worth fighting for, one more time,” said Huget who once worked in the Chemical Valley and served as an NDP MPP for Sarnia.

Dow also announced Thursday it is shutting two facilities in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., that make pulp and paper chemicals, eliminating 170 jobs.

Dow established its first plant in Sarnia in 1942 and once employed as many as 1,400 people. But the company has been steadily shedding jobs and closing production units since the early 90s.

Dow site leader Glen Mutscher admitted the closing of the entire facility was a total shock to employees gathered for the announcement.

“I guess the best description would be - you could feel the air go out of the room,” he said.

There were no details on the timing of layoffs.

Mutscher explained Dow was forced to shut down the entire facility because plant officials could not get adequate supplies of ethylene, a byproduct of natural gas which is a key raw material for the polyethylene unit.

Dow had been supplied with ethylene through a pipeline from western Canada. In March, BP officials warned Dow that shipments from the pipeline had to be suspended for safety reasons.

Jeff Johnson, president of Dow Chemical Canada, said the company scrambled to find alternative supplies.

“We looked for all other sources, rail, marine and other pipeline mechanisms. We did not find other options,” he said.

Johnson said closing the polyethylene plant had a domino effect, making all the other operations at the site non-competitive.

Bradley was skeptical about Dow’s explanation of the closing, saying it might be part of a corporate strategy to consolidating Dow facilities in nearby Midland, Mich.

The Dow announcement comes just one day after news that 380 auto parts jobs in the Stratford-St. Marys area were disappearing, raising fears that Ontario’s manufacturing sector is crumbling.

Dow has shut down more than 50 manufacturing facilities worldwide in the past three years.

Posted by bhola at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

Dow Chemical plans to close factories

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, AUGUST 31, 2006

NEW YORK Dow Chemical, which has shuttered 50 plants in the past three years to trim costs, announced plans Thursday to close factories in Italy and Canada and record as much as $650 million in severance expenses and writedowns in the third quarter.

About 750 jobs will be eliminated, a company spokesman, Chris Huntley, said.

Two of seven facilities in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, will be shut, along with plants in Sarnia, Ontario, and Porto Marghera, Italy, to save $160 million a year, the company, based in Midland, Michigan, said.

The Sarnia plant, once Dow's biggest site in Canada, will close completely by the end of 2008. Output from 27-year- old factories in Fort Saskatchewan will stop in October.

The company said in July that 2006 earnings might slide because of high energy costs.

Dow is "continually looking for ways to enhance our efficiency and our cost- effectiveness, through good times as well as bad, to ensure we remain competitive across every business and in every region," the chief executive, Andrew Liveris, said.

Full savings should be realized in 2009, Huntley said.

Third-quarter costs, including write- offs on "obsolete technology" and capital-project spending, will be $550 million to $650 million, the company added.

Shares of Dow rose 24 cents to close at $38.14 in New York. Before Thursday, they had dropped 13 percent in the past year.

Huntley said that an undetermined number of the workers could be redeployed elsewhere. He said that most of the layoffs would involve blue-collar workers but said that white-collar employees would be affected as well.

Low density polyethylene-plastic production at the Sarnia plant will shut in the coming weeks and polystyrene- plastic output will later cease this year, Dow said. Production of latex and propylene oxide derivatives will end by the end of 2008, Huntley said.

At Fort Saskatchewan, the company will shut a facility that makes chlorine and caustic soda, as well as an ethylene- dichloride plant, by the end of October. About 100 full-time jobs and 70 contractor positions will be eliminated, Dow said.

The Italian plant, which makes toluene diisocyanate, or TDI, was shut for maintenance in August and will not restart, Dow said. TDI is used to make polyurethanes. (Bloomberg, AP)


NEW YORK Dow Chemical, which has shuttered 50 plants in the past three years to trim costs, announced plans Thursday to close factories in Italy and Canada and record as much as $650 million in severance expenses and writedowns in the third quarter.

About 750 jobs will be eliminated, a company spokesman, Chris Huntley, said.

Two of seven facilities in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, will be shut, along with plants in Sarnia, Ontario, and Porto Marghera, Italy, to save $160 million a year, the company, based in Midland, Michigan, said.

The Sarnia plant, once Dow's biggest site in Canada, will close completely by the end of 2008. Output from 27-year- old factories in Fort Saskatchewan will stop in October.

The company said in July that 2006 earnings might slide because of high energy costs.

Dow is "continually looking for ways to enhance our efficiency and our cost- effectiveness, through good times as well as bad, to ensure we remain competitive across every business and in every region," the chief executive, Andrew Liveris, said.

Full savings should be realized in 2009, Huntley said.

Third-quarter costs, including write- offs on "obsolete technology" and capital-project spending, will be $550 million to $650 million, the company added.

Shares of Dow rose 24 cents to close at $38.14 in New York. Before Thursday, they had dropped 13 percent in the past year.

Huntley said that an undetermined number of the workers could be redeployed elsewhere. He said that most of the layoffs would involve blue-collar workers but said that white-collar employees would be affected as well.

Low density polyethylene-plastic production at the Sarnia plant will shut in the coming weeks and polystyrene- plastic output will later cease this year, Dow said. Production of latex and propylene oxide derivatives will end by the end of 2008, Huntley said.

At Fort Saskatchewan, the company will shut a facility that makes chlorine and caustic soda, as well as an ethylene- dichloride plant, by the end of October. About 100 full-time jobs and 70 contractor positions will be eliminated, Dow said.

The Italian plant, which makes toluene diisocyanate, or TDI, was shut for maintenance in August and will not restart, Dow said. TDI is used to make polyurethanes. (Bloomberg, AP)

Posted by bhola at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

Dow Chemical production facility in Netherlands hit by large fire - report

FORBES.COM, AUGUST 28, 2006

AMSTERDAM (AFX) - A production facility of Dow Chemical in the Netherlands has been hit by a large fire, Dutch news agency ANP said.

Although the exact size of the fire is unknown at this stage, the Terneuzen Fire Department sent out a major alert.

The fire apparently started in a chemicals furnace around midday, ANP said. The production facility manufactures propylene and ethylene.

kaj.leers@afxnews.com

Posted by bhola at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

Plant has history of violations, fines: Chemical releases have been subject of EPA reports

CRIS BARRISH, THE DELAWARE NEWS JOURNAL, AUGUST 27, 2996

The Dow Reichhold Specialty Latex plant near Cheswold, which has been in operation since the late 1950s, has been cited and fined numerous times for violations by state environmental officials since 1990, according to News Journal files and state reports.

Violation records before 1990 could not be obtained.

The plant's chemical releases also have been the subject of federal Environmental Protection Agency reports and criticism by environmentalists.

Bob Cook, spokesman for the Dow Reichhold joint venture that took over the plant in January 2002, stressed that all violations before then were not under the current ownership. Dow Reichhold has one other plant, located in Kensington, Ga.

Dow Reichhold is a joint venture between Dow Chemical and Reichhold Inc. and produces waterborne latex for many products, including gloves and textile coatings.

The plant has about 95 employees, Cook said. He said company policy forbade him from disclosing annual revenues.

David Small, deputy secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said his office "has had some issues'' with the moderate-sized facility.

"When they have had them, in a number of cases they used the response to the violation as an opportunity to upgrade their processes and make improvements,'' Small said.

In the mid-1990s the company was plagued by odor-related complaints from people living east of U.S. 13 -- almost a mile east of the plant -- but protests dwindled after Reichhold Chemical, then the owner, invested more than $1.5 million in equipment.

Some of the plant's history and problems since 1990:

1990: Agreed with the EPA to reduce Butadiene releases from equipment leaks.

1990: Received warning letter from state for an unspecified hazardous-waste violation.

1994: Received warning letter from state for unspecified violation.

1996: Spent $200,000 on new computer control system to settle $20,000 state penalty.

November 1998: Cited by state after reactor used to make latex overpressurized, leading to the release of about 500 pounds of Butadiene. The plant's emission limit was 6.6 pounds per hour.

December 1998: Cited by state for failing to identify leaking equipment, properly calibrate leak-detection equipment and confirm that known leaks were properly repaired and verified to meet standards.

August 1999: Cited by state for failure to train hazardous-waste handlers and emergency responders.

October 1999: Cited by state for releasing 7.8 pounds of styrene occurred over three hours when a fan belt broke. The plant's emission limit was 1.75 pounds per hour.

2000: Fined $123,000 by state for releasing excessive amounts of acrylonitrile and other carcinogens, failing to comply with leak detection and repair requirements and failing to submit an application to amend a permit in required time frame. Later that year, the company agreed to spend $150,000 on new equipment.

January 2002: Sold by Reichhold Chemical to Dow Reichhold Specialty Latex LLC.

February 2003: Cited by state for releasing 87.5 pounds of Butadiene. Plant's emission limit was 36.89 pounds per hour.

January 2004: Cited by state for releasing 25.8 pounds of Butadiene from pump gaskets that failed on the backup pump.

February 2004: A break in a frozen pipe spilled up to 18,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater on plant property.

July 2005: Cited by state for releasing 1,154 pounds of Butadiene when a manual valve was left open.

Aug. 25, 2006: Styrene vapors released from a rail car at the plant, prompting the evacuation of several dozen nearby residents.

Contact senior reporter Cris Barrish at 324-2785 or cbarrish@delaware online.com.

Posted by bhola at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)