Lake Area Industry Alliance

Main Products: Primary products for diversified applications such as; lamination, food, medical and pharmaceutical packaging, pipe and pipe coating, caps and closures, textiles, automobile trim, commercial roofing and siding, dishwasher parts, marine vehicles, etc.

Brief History of Facility

Plant construction begain in 1959, and the plant started up during 1961 running some of the very first polypropylene production in the world. At this time, the plant was owned and operated by Hercules Incorporated. In 1983 Hercules merged their polypropylene business with the polypropylene business of Montedison S.p.A. of Milan, Italy to form HIMONT; During its history, this site has operated every generation of polypropylene technology, through to our latest generation of our Spheripol Technology, a world leader. The first commercial Spheripol Plant and the first commercial Spherilene Plant were located at the Lake Charles Plant. In 1995 Montell was formed through the merger of the majority of polyolefins interest of Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies with those of Montedison S.p.A., including HIMONT Incorporated. On October 2, 2000, the plant became part of a merger of Elenac, Montell and Targor, all subsidiaries of the German chemical company BASF, and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, leading to its new name as Basell Polyolefins.

The Plant capacity is 1.5 billionn pounds of polyolefins per year.

Safety Procedures for News Media Responding During Emergencies

Reporters and camera crews covering an emergency should: Wait in the staging area outside the main plant gates. They will be contacted by the Emergency Coordinator and given instructions and pertinent information in a timely manner.

Representative Name: Bob Dupree

Mutual Aid Member: Yes

CAER Member: Yes

Outstanding Achievements

Safety and Environmental records:

Since 1993, through our continuous improvements program and Responsible Care efforts, we were able to reduce our SARA 313 TRI emissions by approximately 77%, including a reduction of 14% in the last year. Improvements in our fugitive emissions leak detection and repair program has kept our total component leakage rate to less than 0.2% over the past five year.
The generation of industrial solid waste was reduced by 52% since 1999.
As part of an energy recovery program, 100% of the hazardous waste generated onsite is being recycled.
Reduced quantity of hazardous waste generated onsite by approximately 20% since 1998.
2000 TRR - 0.60
From the National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA):
- Gold Award from 1993 to 1997, 2001 to 2002, 2005
- Award of Meritorious Safety Performance 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002
- Award of Safety Achievement - 1995, 1998 through 2000, 2002, 2005
From the Chemical Manufacturers' Association (CMA)
- Certificate of Achievement - 1 year without a lost-time injury - 1996
From the Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA)
- S.A.F.E. Distinguished Achievement in Contractor Safety
Level 3: > 505 Improvement in OSHA TRR - 1995 - 1998
- S.A.F.E. Distinguished Achievement in Contractor Safety
Level 3: > 25% Improvement between 2000 OSHA TRIR for permanent/resident contract employees for OSHA TRIR for permanent/resident contract employees 1996 - 2002
- S.A.F.E. Best in Class - > 400 Employees - 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005
- S.A.F.E. Distinguished Achievement in Contractor Safety
Level 3: Minimum 25% Improvement in 1999 OSHA TRIR - 1999 - 2000, 2002
- S.A.F.E. Distinguished Achievement in Contractor Safety
Level 2: 1999 OSHA TRIR < 1.01 - 1999 - 2000
- S.A.F.E. Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Avg. number of reportable releases 1999 - 2000
- S.A.F.E. Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Avg. number of permit exceedances 1997 - 2000
S.A.F.E. Distinguished Achievement in Community Involvement - 1998 - 2000
- S.A.F.E. Performance Recognition in Employee Safety - 1998
- S.A.F.E. Performance Recognition in Overall Environmental Performance - 1998
- S.A.F.E. Performance Recognition in Contractor Safety - 1998
Internal Company Recognition for Lake Charles Site:
- Special Recognition HSE Award - Most Improved in the Resins Group - Recordable Rate 1991 - 1997
- Special Recognition for Injury Reduction Performance - 1991 - 1998
- Special Recognition - President's Safety Award 1997
  - Most Significant Improvement in Total Recordable Performance in the Resins Plant Group - 1996
  - Milestone of Working a Period of One Year Without a Lost Workday Injury - 1997
  - Lowest Total Recordable Rate in the Resin Group Over 4 Years From 1994 - 1998
- Basell Corporate Safety Award 1999 - 2002 (Most sustained HSE performance in North America)

Community Outreach Activities

Member of Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA)
Member of Louisiana Chemical Industrial Alliance (LCIA)
Member of The Chamber/Southwest Louisiana
Member of The West Calcasieu Association of Commerce
Member of Lake Area Industry Alliance (LAIA)
Member of National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA)
Member of American Chemical Council (ACC)
Member of West Cal CAP
Member of The National Safety Council
Member of The Calcasieu Area Safety Council
Member of Local Emergency Perparedness Association
Member of Southwest Louisiana Mututal Aid Association
Partners in Education with T. S. Cooley Magnet School in Lake Charles
Employees and Company Jointly Donate to the United Way
Help Sponsor an AICHE Scholarship to a McNeese Engineering Student with other Area Industries
Sponsor of Science Screen Report to Area High School
Sponsor Four High School Seniors to Girls and Boys State Summer Programs