St. Charles Parish CAP members discuss a variety of community issues during their bi-monthly meetings.
Community Advisory Panel (CAP) Overview
Dow began the Community Advisory Panel (CAP) program with the goal of building trust, cooperation and mutual respect between Dow and the communities where we live and work.
A Community Advisory Panel is a citizen group formed to facilitate and enhance consistent communication between local citizens and chemical plants. Originally a part of the Chemical Manufacturers Association's Responsible Care® Program, CAPs provide a bridge for the public to voice concerns and questions, and give chemical facilities an opportunity to address those issues.
St. Charles Community Advisory Panel
The St. Charles Parish Community Advisory Panel (CAP) has been in existence for more than 15 years. There are two other companies along with St. Charles Operations (SCO) that sponsor the joint community advisory panel.
The panel consists of 25 community members, representatives from the sponsor companies' management teams and a facilitator. The community members of the panel represent a cross section of the St. Charles Parish area in terms of cultural diversity, age, education and employment. Educators, students, clergy, business owners, government employees, community volunteers and directors of non-profit organizations from throughout St. Charles Parish serve on the panel.
The St. Charles CAP meets every two months. Other meetings may also be requested by the CAP membership or SCO to discuss topics that might emerge in non-scheduled months.
Topics
These are just a few examples of the kinds of topics discussed at CAP meetings. They are not exclusive of other questions/issues the CAP has brought forward throughout the years:
- Emergency Response
- Raw Materials and Finished Products
- Transportation Safety — Marine, Road, Rail, and TRANSCAER®
- Port Safety
- Economic Impact of Chemical Industry on State/Parish
- Process Safety Management Program and Site Security
- Hurricane Preparedness
CAP members also participated in site and plant tours to get an up-close look at industry in St. Charles Parish and speak with operations personnel. The CAP also attempts to reach the public with information though a variety of methods such as information booths at parish events and tradeshows and working with local media to publicize CAP activities. The panel strives to continue to stay focused and current with the issues important to the community.
St. Charles Operations Site Leader Nawzer Parakh is extremely impressed with the panel's activity and progress. "This has really given us an opportunity to better understand the interests and concerns of the community. The Community Advisory Panel forum provides us an excellent mechanism to understand and address these items, and that's beneficial to the community and to industry."
CAP member, Sylvia Jones, said, “CAP has let residents of the area get more information on the way things work in the chemical industry in our community. Being a resident of Hahnville, I am very impressed with the expansions Dow has made over the years and the contributions the company has made to the local community.”
The St. Charles CAP also participates in Dow events in the community. For example, Sylvia Joseph also served as a Dow Educational Enhancement Grants reader.
