Hahnville, LA - October 01, 2008
St. Charles Operations held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new EOC/Dispatch Center Monday with parish officials and other community members in attendance. Dow also used the celebration to present $50,000 to St. Charles Parish for hurricane relief and recovery.
The ceremony, which took place in the new addition to the Hahnville site, brought together local Dow Leadership, and local leaders. After showing the new Center, St. Charles Operations Site Leader Nawzer Parakh presented a $50,000 check on behalf of the Dow Chemical Company Foundation to St. Charles Parish President V.J. St. Pierre and Emergency Preparedness Director Tab Troxler for hurricane relief in St. Charles Parish. Dow thanked the parish for their efforts during Hurricane Gustav and pledged to continue working with the Parish a partner in the community.
The Emergency Operations/Dispatch Center project began as an idea several years ago. In 2005, as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita moved through south Louisiana, the project picked up steam with construction beginning in late 2007. The new state-of-the-art facility opened for operation June 1 of 2008 – the first day of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The new building is built as a hurricane shelter. The 2nd floor of the two story building can withstand 200 MPH winds and is high above any potential flood waters caused from storm surge and can be fully powered by back up generators.
Though an important asset during hurricanes, the building is equipped to serve the 2000 acre site in Hahnville during any site event where site emergency services and leadership teams need to come together. A large conference room equipped with 6 large flat-screen monitors, redundant communications systems which include satellite back-ups sits next to a dispatch center where site emergency services personnel oversee site security systems and stand ready to facilitate communication between Dow and its various stakeholders.
About Dow
More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com or www.dowlouisiana.com.
For Editorial Information:
Tommy Faucheux
The Dow Chemical Company
(985) 783-4990
