President’s Message: Safety is Job One

TCC President & CEO Hector L. Rivero

Safety is a cornerstone for sustainability in the chemical industry.  Identifying potential hazards and developing best practices in process safety is a priority for the industry.  The U.S. chemical industry spends more than $2 billion each year improving worker health and safety.  As a result of these efforts, the injury and illness rates for the chemistry industry are one-quarter of the average rate for all manufacturing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As part of our commitment to safety, Texas Chemical Council (TCC) has an Alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The purpose of this Alliance is to establish a collaborative relationship to cultivate healthy and safe workplaces. Through this Alliance, TCC members obtain information, guidance and access to training resources that will assist them to protect employee health and safety while reducing and preventing hazards. 

TCC supports and promotes other voluntary safety programs including OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) and the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care®.   OSHA’s VPP was created in 1982 to recognize and partner with businesses and worksites that show excellence in occupational safety and health.

VPP sites are committed to effective employee protection beyond the requirements of OSHA standards. Participants develop and implement systems to effectively identify, evaluate, prevent, and control occupational hazards to prevent employee injuries and illnesses. As a result, the average VPP worksite has a lost workday incidence rate at least 50 percent below the average of its industry.

The American Chemistry Council established its Responsible Care® safety program for its member companies to improve the health, safety and environmental performance, and to communicate with stakeholders about their performance, products and processes.  Responsible Care® companies are required to implement a comprehensive management system to improve their environmental, health, safety and security performance. The framework is built on a “plan-do-check-act” model that raises the bar for industry-wide performance while allowing flexibility to meet the specific needs of individual companies and facilities.

Companies that adhere to the Responsible Care® program have:

Workers in the chemical industry are safer than those in agriculture, food stores, retailing and general merchandising. For TCC members, safety isn’t just a slogan; it’s a way of life.  Safety is job one for the chemical industry and our sustainability depends on maintaining the highest standards and best practices in safety.

23rd Annual EHS Seminar is a Success for Industry Safety

EHS Exhibitor

Mark your calendars for next year’s EHS Seminar, which will be held June 6 – 9, 2011 at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas.

Chemical Industry Recognizes Excellence at Awards Banquet

The Gerald R. Ehrman Award for Leadership in Safety Management was presented to Steve Skarke of Kaneka Texas Corporation (Pasadena site).


The Safety Professional of the Year Award was presented to Bob Brennecke of the BASF Corporation (Pasadena site).

  

EPA Disapproves Texas Flexible Permit Program

On June 30th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced final disapproval of the Texas Flexible Permit Program that the state has been successfully operating with no formal objections from EPA since 1994.

According to its press release, EPA justified its disapproval of the program because it “does not meet several national Clean Air Act requirements that help to assure the protection of health and the environment.”

TCC President Hector Rivero said, “While not unexpected, EPA’s action is nonetheless disappointing. This action will result in onerous and costly regulations for employers without any measurable improvement to the state’s air quality.”

“As a major economic engine for the state, the chemical industry urges EPA to collaborate with the TCEQ, in good faith, to resolve their regulatory differences,” said Rivero. “Employers need fair and predictable regulations in order to remain competitive in the global economy.  The livelihoods of 500,000 Texans who depend on the chemical industry in this state are counting that these issues will be resolved in a constructive and expeditious manner.”

TCC has been actively engaged on this issue. TCC has coordinated with several other Texas business organizations and submitted comments to EPA on July 2nd regarding the proposed voluntary audit program proposed by EPA to remedy Flexible Permits. 

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Mike McMullen at (512) 646-6404.

Waxman to Push Carbon Limits in Conference if Senate Falls Short

U.S. Representative Henry Waxman

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said he would “absolutely” seek to keep greenhouse gas limits alive in a House-Senate conference if the Senate approves energy legislation this summer that omits carbon provisions.
  
“It would be open in conference to consider because our bill has it,” Waxman said last week.

Waxman authored a sweeping climate and energy bill that the House narrowly approved last year that merges an “economy-wide” cap-and-trade system with other provisions to boost alternative energy and energy efficiency.

Greenhouse gas caps face large hurdles in the U.S. Senate, and may be left on the cutting-room floor when the Senate debates an energy package that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants to bring up this month.

But Waxman, an ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said the climate issue would remain alive in conference, noting he would press for measures that create a cost for emitting greenhouse gases.

Limiting emissions from power plants, factories, refineries and other sectors is a top priority for environmentalists and many liberal Democrats – including Pelosi. But emissions caps face resistance among many Republicans and some centrist Democrats, which means that advocates will have a difficult time corralling 60 Senate votes.

“I would hope we can put a price on carbon,” Waxman said, arguing it would give the private sector the “right market signal” to develop low-emissions technologies. “I would hope they would have it in the Senate bill, and I would encourage them to adopt it, either there or in conference,” Waxman said.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) have authored a broad climate and energy bill that would apply carbon limits across several economic sectors. But the two senators, seeking to keep emissions measures in play as the Senate debate nears, said they’re willing to scale back the reach of their plan.

One option under consideration among lawmakers is a narrowed climate bill that would apply only to electric power plants, but it remains unclear if such a plan can gain more traction than the broader approach.

Administration’s Gulf Oil Drilling Moratorium Rejected Again

A federal appeals court has rejected the Obama administration’s request to keep a six-month moratorium on deep-water oil drilling, saying the government failed to show it would suffer  “irreparable harm” if work resumes on the approved well sites in the Gulf of Mexico.

The decision, issued shortly after the three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in a crowded New Orleans courtroom, was a blow to the administration’s plan to cease new drilling operations in waters deeper than 500 feet while investigators probe the cause of the devastating April 20 oil rig explosion and massive spill.

Attorneys for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar had urged the appeals court panel to leave the drilling ban in effect while emergency crews work to contain the oil still gushing out of the damaged wellhead at the rate of up to 60,000 barrels a day.

One of the three judges dissented, saying he would have granted the government’s request for a stay on the lower court's order. The panel ruled unanimously, however, in calling for an expedited hearing on the merits of the government need for a drilling halt in the wake of the BP spill disaster. That hearing was set for late August.

U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman struck down the government moratorium on deep-water drilling on June 22, at the urging of drilling-support companies, which argued that the halt threatened devastating economic harm to the region. The companies, led by Hornbeck Offshore Services, argued that Feldman’s ruling was correct in deeming the administration action excessive and unsupported by facts.

As Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal sat in the front row of the crowded courtroom, the appeals court judges peppered the lawyers for both sides with questions that foreshadowed their 2-1 ruling against allowing the blanket moratorium.

The judges also questioned the likelihood of another spill occurring, one of the government’s main arguments for keeping the moratorium in place while implementing new safety measures on drilling operations.

U.S. Chemicals Growth of 6% in 2010 to Help Drive Sector Output

U.S. chemicals output is expected to rise by 6.0%, or 6.8% excluding pharmaceuticals, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said last month. Output was expected to moderate next year, however, to 4.0%, and fall back to 3.6% in 2012. The strongest gains in 2010 were expected in basic chemicals and in some specialty segments.

ACC economists said they believed domestic chemicals demand would to continue to improve with the economy and be supported by exports to China, the rest of Asia and Latin America. But the stronger dollar and a weaker European economy are expected to put pressure on exports to Europe.

The US chemical industry was experiencing a “surprisingly good recovery in demand” driven by major end-use markets, according to ACC. “At mid-year, it is apparent that the US economy has reached a transition phase, shifting from an economy driven by inventory changes [end of destocking and start of restocking] and stimulus spending, to one that is self-sustaining,” ACC’s economists added.

U.S. manufacturing was on a strong upward trend, although ACC warned that the recovery remained fragile. The pace of economic growth was expected to ease in the second half resulting in growth of 3.3% this year and growth of 3.1% in 2011 and 2.8% in 2012. The trade association, however, remained upbeat for chemicals.

It forecast a possible surplus in US chemicals trade this year for the first time since 2001. Overall growth after 2012 will be at a premium to that of the US economy,” according to ACC. “Improving operating rates, cash flow, and expectations, and a need to maintain competitiveness will result in a slight improvement in chemical industry investment this year, with capital spending accelerating in 2011 and 2012,” the group added.

There would be a new wave of investment in the industry globally, with chemical output growth growing at 1.2 times economic growth after 2011. Growth currently was being driven by emerging nations, projecting output growth of 7.2% this year moderating to 5.0% in 2011. Global chemicals output fell 3.6% in 2009.

Dow, BASF Garner Production-Efficiency Award from EPA

Dow Chemical and BASF Corporation have won a Presidential Green Chemistry award given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Dow and BASF won EPA’s Greener Synthetic Pathways Award for their joint development of Hydrogen Peroxide to Propylene Oxide (HPPO) process. The HPPO process is said to be more economical and has environmental benefits when compared to conventional propylene oxide process technologies.

The new HPPO process reduces wastewater by 70% to 80% and energy use by approximately 35%. There are no by-products produced besides water, and PO plants using the HPPO technology require up to 25% less capital to build than conventional technologies.

ACIT Houston Ship Channel Region Hosts Clay Shoot

The ACIT Houston Ship Channel Region hosted its first Clay Shoot at the American Shooting Center in Houston on June 24th.  More than 60 shooters participated in the event that helped raise money for the chemical industry’s political action committee, FREEPAC.  The Clay Shoot sponsors included:

•    Infinity Construction Services
•    Intercontinental Terminals Company
•    Plant Performance Services (P2S)
•    Safway Services
•    Sprint Waste
•    Texas Chemical Council

We thank all our sponsors as well as the ACIT Houston Ship Channel Region’s Activities Committee for all their efforts. This was the region’s first clay shoot and they hope to have an even larger turnout at next year’s event.

ACIT South Texas Region Dusts Off the Old Clubs

June 25 – The ACIT South Texas Region hosted its first Golf Tournament in several years on June 25th at River Hills Country Club.  Over 100 players participated in the event.

The tournament winners were:

Upcoming TCC & ACIT Events

August 3rd through 5th – TCC & ACIT Science Teachers Institute (STI) will be held at the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) in Houston, Texas. The STI Workshop is a unique opportunity to provide science teachers with a more substantive understanding of how chemicals are manufactured and a balanced view of environmental issues in Texas.

August 19th & 20th – The 4th Annual Maintenance & Reliability Symposium “Improvement in Maintenance & Reliability – Leading the Recovery” to be held at Moody Gardens in Galveston.  For more information, please click here.

All 2010 ACIT events are now listed on the ACIT website, click here no log in required.