June 9, 2003

Meeting Summary/Action Register

Presentations:
Ozone Alert Plans for Baton Rouge and Dow
Mr. Mike McDaniel, Ph.D., Baton Rouge Clean Air Coalition gave a presentation on the Capital Region Ozone Attainment Campaign (See attachment). Mr. McDaniel informed the CAP that a Clean Air campaign would be launched this summer regarding the current ozone alert plans. The State of Louisiana has made significant progress in reducing the number of ozone non-attainment areas (a comparison was shown from 1978 to 2002). The Baton Rouge ozone non-attainment area encompasses East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Ascension and Livingston Parishes. A chart was shown plotting the 1-hour ozone exceedance days from 1981 to 2002 that showed a decreased over this period and an annual maximum of 1-hour ozone values. The Baton Rouge area was in attainment during 2001 but on Sept. 11, 2002 a monitor in North Baton Rouge registered a reading over the standard. That incident is still under investigation. Point Source charts were shown of VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions trends and NOx emissions trends from 1990 – 2002. Relative contributions of manmade VOCs and NOx in the area come from non-road, mobile or point sources. The consequences of a bump-up to a severe classification on the Baton Rouge community were discussed. This would cause a major negative economic development impact on the greater Baton Rouge region with a “severe” air quality classification although monitored results show we have a “marginal” air quality problem. The area would be required to use reformulated gasoline that would cost approximately 15 cents more per gallon and enforceable transportation control measures would be required to offset growth in vehicle miles traveled in the five parishes.

June 23, 2003 will be the day that the Baton Rouge area will go under the new EPA regulations. The ozone attainment public awareness campaign was outlined to the CAP. It was mentioned that a typical lawn mover emissions is equivalent to 70 vehicles. The public will play a major role in the areas effort to reduce the emissions.

Mr. McDaniel discussed the Ozone Action Program to the CAP. The Ozone Action Program is a voluntary, community-based program designed to reduce ozone-forming emissions caused by vehicles and other sources during the summer months. Two principal program elements will be Ozone Action Day and CRPC BRACS Program. Major employers will be encouraged to participate by pledging to 1) designate an employee to serve as Ozone Action Program Coordinator; 2) educate employees by distributing Ozone Action Day information to employees, placing articles in company newsletters, etc.; 3) Notify employees that an Ozone Action Day has been forecast; 4) develop and implement an Ozone Action Day response program. An Ozone Action Day will be declared by the LDEQ when the Baton Rouge metropolitan area’s air quality is forecast for the next day to approach or enter the range of Air Quality Index Code Red, which is potentially unhealthy. Organizations and individuals would then take planned measures to reduce ozone-forming emissions. LDEQ will issue an Ozone Alert by 2:00 p.m. the day before the area might experience an air problem. Air quality index levels were explained. For additional information, please go to Ozone Forecast or AirNow OpenBid. EPA’s AirNow site provides animated ozone maps daily during the ozone season for most areas of the U.S.

In summary, the Baton Rouge area will be “bumped-up” from a “serious” to a “severe” classification for the 1-hour standard effective June 23, 2003. EPA will make formal attainment designations under the new 8-hour standard in April 2004. This area has a great opportunity this summer to come into attainment with both the 1-hour and 8-hour ozone standards. The capital region community is encouraged to support and participate in the summer 2003 ozone attainment campaign.

Ms. Gretchen LeBlanc, Production Leader for Power and Utilities, gave a presentation on Dow’s Energy Enhancement Plan that includes LaO Energy Systems 2003 ozone control plan and Dow’s sustainable development commitment for efficient use of resources to provide power as environmentally friendly as possible. The Ozone Control plan outlines receipt of communications from LDEQ of an Ozone Alert, communications from Dow Emergency Services Department to Dow employees and production units, and communications from Dow Environmental Services to LDEQ of the actions taken. Dow’s sustainable development commitment calls for minimizing material content, natural resource use and energy requirements and maximizing services through reuse and recycling activities. More specifically, Dow plans to decommission less efficient boilers and have partnered with American Electric Power to operate a new, state of the art, co-generation facility currently under construction at the site. Dow’s energy goal is to reduce energy consumption per pound of product by 20% by 2005. Between 1994 – 2002, energy consumption was reduced by 12%.

Contractor Incident Review
Mr. Jeff Adams with Dow and Mr. Mike Phelps with J. E. Merit, contract company, informed the CAP of a safety incident that occurred in Dow’s machine shop on January 2, 2003. The contract employee sustained minor injuries from the incident. An incident investigation was completed. The employee reported that he had disengaged the mill but apparently it was not fully disengaged. There were other employees working in the machine shop at the time of the incident but no one saw what exactly happened. Every piece of machinery in the machine shop has a procedure approved by Dow. Safety measures have been put in place to prevent future incidents of this nature. The CAP had several questions regarding how this incident occurred and the operation of the mill.

Responsible Care Performance Measurements
Ms. Donna Carville reviewed Dow’s Responsible Care Performance Measurements from May 13, – June 9, 2003.

“Dow in the News” / Upcoming Events
Ms. Babs Babin reviewed the “Dow in the News” and Upcoming Events to the CAP. Additional Dow events not listed are: presentation of Lantern Award to Dow by Louisiana Economic Development.and Dow hosting high school seniors taking PTEC 101 from the Baton Rouge Community College.

General Questions and Discussion by CAP Members
A panel member asked if Dow was being sued by contract employees and/or their families who may have worked in tankcar cleaning. Mr. Shipp stated that he was not aware if Dow had been served with additional papers. Mr. Shipp also informed the CAP that it was his understanding that on June 11, 2003 the Iberville Grand Jury that was investigating potential environmental crimes would adjourn.

A panel member asked if Dow’s vulnerability assessment had been completed. Mr. Shipp stated that changes are being made throughout the facility for security purposes. At a future meeting, Dow will give an update on their security measures and changes made.

The next meeting of the Dow CAP was scheduled for Monday, August 11, 2003 at 6:00 p.m.