Dow Texas Operations Safe and Secure

Freeport, TX - September 26, 2005

Dow Texas Operations is safe and secure and working toward returning to normal operations after the passing of Hurricane Rita. All personnel are expected to resume normal shifts and daily work schedules on Tuesday, September 27.

"Our employees did an excellent job of safely shutting down our plants in preparation for Rita's arrival," said Bob Walker, Vice President for Dow Texas Operations. "Getting our site started again will take some time because of our size and integration, but in the last few days we've already made a lot of progress. Starting our plants up again is at the top of our list, but as always - safety takes precedence over speed. We are focusing on re-starting our plants safely."

Dow employees not essential to plant operations were released at the end of the business day Tuesday, September 20. The site began the process of safely shutting down plants Wednesday, September 21. Dow hurricane duty crews and other essential personnel started evacuating to Brenham, Texas, Thursday, September 22, where Dow arranged to have shelter. All production facilities were shut down before dawn Friday, September 23.

"Our site has plans and procedures that we follow as soon as a hurricane enters the Gulf of Mexico," said Linda Bartholome, Responsible Care Leader for Dow Texas Operations. "As Rita grew stronger and predictions had the storm making landfall near Freeport, we activated the evacuation part of our plan for our hurricane duty crews. This was the first time that portion of the plan had ever been activated. As Rita weakened and predictions had the storm coming ashore near the Texas-Louisiana border, highly-trained skeleton crews stayed at the site for hurricane-related responses. If, at any point, the hurricane's projected path had changed and raised potential safety issues for these crews, they would have immediately evacuated."

As Dow Texas Operations starts returning to normal operations, nearby residents may see flaring at the site and hear plants testing horns and the purging of steam lines.

"As our site's plants start to come up along with other chemical facilities in the area, residents are going to be seeing and hearing things that are part of the normal process of starting up plants," said Bartholome. "If anyone has concerns about noises and odors related to the chemical industry, we encourage them to call 238-CAER."

Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

For Editorial Information:

David Winder
The Dow Chemical Company
(979) 238-3792