Sasol North America's complex, located adjacent to the City of Westlake, is part of the Global operations of Sasol Ltd, an integrated oil, gas and chemical company. The local complex manufactures many commodity and specialty chemicals used in detergents, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, cleaning agents, food packaging, thickeners, mild abrasives and much more. Approximately 400 employees work in the complex, which has an annual economic impact of $180 million to the local economy.

    Sasol's local facility began operations in 1961 with the world's largest synthetic Alcohol plant. Through the sixties and seventies, the facility expanded to include a Normal Paraffin unit, Ethoxylation unit, Ethylene unit and Alumina unit. In 1981, a Linear Alkylbenzene unit was added to the facility and in 2004, the Research and Development arm of Sasol North America was moved to the Westlake site as well.

    During any plant emergency, the news media should wait for instructions prior to coming to the facility. There may be a Shelter In Place, a road closure or other reason that reporting to the facility would not be the responsible thing to do. The media may call the Community Information Line at 337-494-5301 for directions or to leave a message for a return call.

• Calcasieu Office of Emergency Preparedness
• Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office
• Department of Health and Hospitals
• Department of Transportation
• Fire Marshall
• Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
• Louisiana State Police
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• U. S. Coast Guard
• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

    We have a world-class, volunteer emergency response team of approximately 30 certified fire fighters with specialized training in rescue and spill response. These team members have the necessary stationary and mobile equipment and resources to address industrial emergencies on site. We are a member of the Southwest Louisiana Mutual Aid Association and therefore can access many other resources as needed.

    Sasol North America is a member of the Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER) group, which assists with Public Awareness and Notifications of industrial events with off-site impact. We also work closely with our the Parish's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and the Calcasieu Parish Local Emergency Planning Commission.

    Sasol North America's local complex has been recognized over the years for many accomplishments ranging from Partners In Education awards to state and national awards in the areas of safety and environmental performance. Additionally, the facility is ISO 9001 certified for quality and RC14001 certified for safety, health, environmental and community quality systems.

Since the EPA began annual emissions reporting requirements of certain chemicals (called TRI emissions), the complex has reduced these emissions to air, land and water by more than 90%.

    Sasol North America is supportive of the communities in which our facilities operate. The Community Outreach Activities fit in three main categories:
1) Sasol Volunteers - our employees are coaches, tutors, mentors, sponsors, fundraisers and much more for many organizations in our community. Sasol supports this volunteerism with monetary donations and on-the-job support.
2) Community Outreach - we keep the lines of communications open with our neighbors through tours, an info-line, newsletters, a Community Advisory Panel and more.
3) Philanthropic Contributions - the company makes contributions to local non-profit organizations totaling more than $100,000 annually.