Midland, MI - September 12, 2008

With widespread disruptions in power and utilities still affecting areas of Louisiana as a result of Hurricane Gustav, The Dow Chemical Company Foundation has announced that it will donate a total of $500,000 to help at the local, regional and state levels. Dow’s site in Plaquemine, Louisiana and at Union Carbide’s St. Charles Operations in Hahnville, Louisiana have also been assisting impacted employees.

The four parishes (Assumption, Iberville, St. Charles and West Baton Rouge) around the impacted sites will each receive $50,000 to go toward emergency response equipment. Donations of $50,000 will go to Capital Areas and the Southeast Regional American Red Cross to assist in the sheltering of those unable to return to their homes. In response to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s request for help in purchasing power generation equipment for homes and businesses, the Foundation will also donate $200,000 to the State of Louisiana, which is overseeing the effort.

Start-up operations recently began at Dow’s site in Plaquemine, Louisiana and at Union Carbide’s St. Charles Operations in Hahnville, Louisiana – both of which were impacted by Hurricane Gustav.

Each start-up process is expected to take several weeks to complete. Raw material availability and transportation logistics continue to present a challenge to the sites and to the industry throughout the region.

Dow’s site in Plaquemine continued partial operations through the storm while Union Carbide’s St. Charles Operations was safely shut down before it made landfall. Since initiating their hurricane preparedness plans as Hurricane Gustav entered the Gulf of Mexico and through the recovery and start-up processes neither site has had an injury.

Company sites in Texas were not impacted by the storm and continued normal operations.

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For Editorial Information:

David Winder
The Dow Chemical Company
(989) 638-0745