Louisiana - September 19, 2005

Dow and Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), which suffered minor damages at its St. Charles Operation sites in Hahnville and Norco as a result of Hurricane Katrina, announced today that it is resuming operations and continuing recovery and relief efforts to assist employees and nearby communities. Dow's largest integrated site in Plaquemine returned to normal operations shortly after the storm. The company's other wholly owned subsidiaries, ANGUS in Sterlington and Amerchol in Greensburg are also operating normally.

"I am very proud of our employees who have made great strides in re-starting our plants," said the site leader for St. Charles Operations. "We focused first on contacting our employees and assisting them to return to some sort of normalcy. Temporary housing, interest-free loans and other forms of assistance have been provided to help them come back to work, knowing that Katrina was a life-changing event for everyone. Our employees have responded with a "can do" spirit, teamwork and a focus on safety to bring most of our plants on our site back on-line."

Disruptions in transportation and other logistics in the region, although much improved, will continue to impact access to raw materials and ability to deliver products. Dow is working with suppliers and others to resolve issues while keeping customers apprised and making business-specific announcements as situations change.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Dow launched a Hurricane Hotline to account for its 1,100 employees, which was accomplished. And, both sites quickly coordinated resources to assist employees and communities in the Baton Rouge and St. Charles Parish areas with their recovery and relief needs.

Those efforts included providing displaced employees with temporary housing, interest-free loans and one-on-one assistance. Community efforts have included the company's donation to Red Cross, loaning generators to start up the local hospital and other critical businesses, transporting medical supplies, volunteering and providing supplies to the emergency relief distribution centers and even providing supplies to other New Orleans area recovery efforts.

According to one St. Charles Operations employee, the housing assistance from Dow has brought his family together as they recover.

"This has been really great. My family was really in a bind. We were split up-with my wife and kids in Shreveport, and I was in McComb, Mississippi. The trailer has allowed my family to be back together. And, it was fully furnished, stocked with food and everything! All we had to bring were our clothes."

Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. Union Carbide Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

St. Charles Operations is owned by Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. "Dow", as used throughout this web site, often refers generically to The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries.

For Editorial Information:

Jolen Stein
The Dow Chemical Company
(985) 783-4990