11.05.2007 - 07:39pm ET

(CSRwire) ORANGEBURG, S.C., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- It's not every day that a chemical company gets cited for creating wetlands. But the
prestigious Wildlife Habitat Council now has recognized specialty chemicals maker Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) twice in as many years for Albemarle's innovative wetlands programs at two of the company's U.S. plant sites.

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After a couple of years of planning and six months of preparation, land development, and sheer physical labor, Albemarle's Orangeburg employee- and contract-worker-based Wildlife Habitat team recently received word that its newly developed habitat has been certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council's (WHC) Corporate Certification/International Accreditation Program as a commendable wildlife habitat management and environmental education program.

Beginning in March of this year, the Orangeburg team developed 135 acres of hardwood and evergreen forest along the Edisto River into a natural habitat designed to attract and foster growth of additional wildlife, provide a welcoming place to educate area community groups and schoolchildren in the diversity and value of local wildlife, simplify the facility's land management practices, and assist local and state agencies with the study and analysis of natural resources.

The Orangeburg Wildlife Habitat, nicknamed "The Hundred Acre Woods" by the Wildlife Habitat team, features:

-- Pollinator gardens using more than ten plant species,

-- A built-from-scratch turtle basking pond,

-- An Outdoor Learning Center with electricity and running water for
employees and visiting groups, and

-- Several nature trails and wetland bridges for observing wildlife.

The habitat team worked nights and weekends to clean up the woods, clear land for the turtle basking pond, line the turtle pond with clay and rocks, run water to the pond to fill it, blaze and mark the nature trails using reference guides, construct the learning center and run water and electricity to it, design and build educational displays, and many other tasks.

In addition to being a wildlife habitat, "The Hundred Acre Woods" will also serve as an educational center and community outreach resource for the region. In fact, the wildlife team has already begun working with community groups in the clean up and construction of the habitat, and will partner with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the local Soil and Water Conservation District to assist with natural areas surveys.

Albemarle President and CEO Mark Rohr said, "Our mission as a global, socially conscious company is to deliver specialty chemical solutions to our customers and to the world in a responsible and environmentally sound manner. We improve the sustainability of our world when we improve the sustainability of our operations, and vice versa. I can think of no better sign of this improvement than the new Wildlife Habitat at Orangeburg.

"Albemarle employees like this team at Orangeburg have been steadily engaged in a campaign to make sustainability, like safety, a part of their daily lives, and they have considered the best interests of their community in these efforts," Rohr said. "It is extremely gratifying to see the enthusiasm that the Orangeburg team has brought to its work, the way they have involved the community at different stages, and the impressive results achieved in a relatively short time frame."

Albemarle's Magnolia Plants were certified by the WHC in 2006 for the company's creation of its Artificial Marsh water treatment facilities and its private wetland bank. The WHC is a nonprofit, nonlobbying 501(c)(3) group of corporations, conservation organizations, and individuals dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat. For more information about the WHC, visit www.wildlifehc.org.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceuticals; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments-Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more about Albemarle at www.albemarle.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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