Monday, June 14, 2004 - Dow Community Advisory Panel Minutes

The Dow Community Advisory Panel met on Monday, June 14, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. at the Dow Conference Center.  After the facilitator welcomed those present and introductions were made, the panel approved the minutes of the May 10, 2004 meeting. After the panel viewed Dow's safety video and a brief overview of Dow's Louisiana Operations, Ms.Carville reviewed Dow's "LAO Division Flowsheet", providing a general explanation of the processes at the Plaquemine site. 

Site Tour
The panel then toured the Plaquemine site.  Ms. Carville pointed out the locations of the plants where propylene oxide (used in the manufacture of glycols used in shaving cream), surfactants (used in cleaning agents), caustic and chlorine gas (used in the production of cleaning solvents for dry cleaners, hydrogen chloride (used in the production of caulking), chlorinated polyethylene (a synthetic rubber that is part of the roof of the PMAC), Methocel* (a water-soluble polymer used in foods, medicine, paints), are produced.  Dow has a joint venture with Exxon, Dexco, that makes copolymers used in adhesives.  Another company, Ineos, is located at the site and makes amines.    Security and Emergency Services has personnel continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Additionally a site emergency manager is on call 24/7.  All employees can take physicals to work at Dow, and these are done onsite in the medical building.  In the research and development area, approximately 150 employees work on analytical processes to monitor and improve products.  Maintenance work is done both onsite and outside the site. 

There is a non-hazardous waste landfill and a hazardous waste landfill on site.   The chlorine cell service area is used to service cells for all Dow sites in North America. 

Ms. LeBlanc stated that the LAO Energy Systems is the "central nervous system" of the entire site and includes:

1. Partnering with American Electric Power (AEP) to operate world class, efficient, environmentally sound equipment;
2. Decommissioning older boilers (2 of the 4 are now down); and
3. Modifying the central control room for the new AEP/Dow operations.

The new power plant emits much lower levels of NOx.  Dow has an agreement with AEP, which owns the plant and dispatches power requests; Dow leases the equipment and provides operations personnel.  The design complies with Dow EH&S.  Power is dispatched to Dow; the excess goes to AEP.  Enough power is generated to power the entire city of New Orleans.  Steam is also produced.  There are 11 employees responsible for maintenance, permitting, and other operations of the plant.  The control room is manned with 2 operators.  There have been no recordable injuries for 38 months, and only one in the past 8 years.   

Answers to Questions and Comments Included the Following:

1. Dow's Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day is held each year in April.
2. Dow uses 500 million gallons of water for cooling daily.  The water is cleaned after removal from the river and before it is used in cooling the chemical processes much like a radiator.  Drinking water is also produced.  Clarifiers are used to remove the mud.  The mud is returned to the river.  There are over 80 monitoring points for water prior to returning to the river.  Rainwater must be analyzed and cleaned as well before being sent out to the river.
3. The site power use is approximately 500 MW.  The bulk of the electricity produced is marketed to the grid by AEP.  A majority of the electricity used at the site is at the chlorine facility. 
4. Power is marketed in bulk.

Responsible Care Performance Measures
Mr. Davis provided Responsible Care Performance Measures to the CAP (attachment).  There have been 10 site OSHA injuries to date this year.  Between May 11 and June 14, 2004, there were 4 recordable injuries.  One of those was the amputation of a contract employee's leg, which was caught between 2 rail cars.  According to the contract company who conducted an accident investigation, there were procedure violations and communications failures that led to the incident. 

"Dow in the News"
Ms. Babin provided the CAP with a copy of "Dow in the News - Louisiana Recap of May 2004" (attachment) as well as information on the creation of the West Side YMCA Capital Campaign (attachment).  Dow is a major sponsor of this project donating $1,000,000 over 4 years.  An additional $1 million is needed to match Dow's donations.  Donations are being accepted from corporations, businesses, families, and individuals.  The proposed site will be between Brusly and Addis on Hwy. 1. 

Volunteers are being sought for the "Back to School" program which will be held at the Iberville Civic Center on Saturday, August 17, 2004. 

Legislative Updates
Ms. Carville provided legislative updates to the CAP stating that  several bills that could affect industry such as the governing of river pilots and frivolous lawsuits are being considered.

Around the Table
The location of the ozone monitor in Plaquemine will be provided at the next meeting.

Legislation in Congress regarding asbestos litigation is still being negotiated on the Senate Floor.  The biggest issue is the amount to be required in the fund. Tax incentives for gas drilling was included in a bill that passed Congress.  The energy bill is stalled.

Next Meeting
The next Dow CAP meeting will be held on Monday, August 9, 2004 at the Dow Conference Center.  The main agenda item will include a natural gas presentation by Dr. David Dismukes of LSU.