Environment
At Dow, we work extensively to limit our impact on the environment. Over 450 acres of the Fort Saskatchewan site are dedicated to the Dow Wildlife Greenbelt, which has continually met the high recertification standards of the Wildlife Habitat Council. It is open to the public during summer daylight hours and features remnant marshes, wetlands, wooded corridors and manicured grounds.
In April 2009, the Fort Saskatchewan site was awarded EnviroVista Leader status for the fifth year in a row through the Government of Alberta’s EnviroVista program. The program recognizes companies that exceed provincial environmental expectations and legislation, as well as demonstrate responsibility, stewardship and an ongoing commitment to improve environmental performance.
Throughout the years, Dow has been committed to Responsible Care™ and working to improve our environmental performance. In 2002, Environment Canada and Dow agreed on a five-year voluntary control action approach, implementing a management strategy for 1,2-dichloroethane (EDC) to minimize emissions at the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, production facility and Dow’s former North Vancouver, British Columbia, distribution facility. This Environmental Performance Agreement successfully reduced EDC emissions by approximately 70 per cent, well exceeding the 50 per cent target.
Dow was also diligent in managing dioxin and furan emissions during the 33-year operations of the Fort Saskatchewan Chlor Vinyl facility. By installing new technology, we reduced emissions to air by more than 90% between 1994 and 2006 when operations at the Chlor Vinyl facility ceased. Since then Dow has been taking appropriate actions to decommission and demolish the facilities.
As an active member of the Fort Air Partnership (FAP), Dow is part of a multi-stakeholder group that works to provide credible and comprehensive air quality data to the public and the government. Two air-monitoring stations near Dow’s manufacturing site provide real-time data on air emissions and air quality.
Health & Safety
Dow is committed to the safety and well-being of our employees and surrounding communities. We emphasize both worker and process safety and continually strive to improve practices and procedures to achieve our “Vision of Zero”.
Dow emergency response teams are amongst the best in our industry, ready to respond to any incident related to product or worker safety. In the Fort Saskatchewan area, we cooperate with local industries through the Northeast Region Community Awareness and Emergency Response (NRCAER) organization, in educating the public about our operations and cooperating in our emergency response efforts. As a member of NR CAER, we are committed to sharing information about unusual industrial activities 24-7 through the NRCAER UPDATEline message system at 1-866-653-9959.
Transportation safety is a priority at the Fort Saskatchewan site as Dow products are shipped by railcar or truck. Dow has comprehensive risk assessment programs to evaluate security with respect to raw material and product transportation. We also work closely with our transportation partners to assess the effectiveness of their safety and security programs. For eight consecutive years, the Canadian Pacific Railway has honoured the site for our safety record in managing and transporting regulated hazardous materials.