Covington, Ky. For the sixth consecutive year, Ashland Inc. has honored a diverse group of projects and individuals with its Chairman’s Challenge Awards for demonstrating excellence in environment, health and safety practices.

Paul W. Chellgren, chairman and chief executive officer, presented the awards at a luncheon in conjunction with an Ashland Inc. board of directors meeting held in Covington, Ky. Ashland board member Patrick F. Noonan, chairman of the board of the Conservation Fund, James R. Boyd, senior vice president and group operating officer, and Glenn W. Hammer, vice president of environment, health and safety for the corporation joined Chellgren in presenting the awards.

"In order to demonstrate true commitment to environmental stewardship, safety awareness and better health habits, daily practices must continually improve over time," Chellgren said. "Many changes may be subtle, but as time passes, improvements occur. As a result of new thinking, innovative ideas develop, training yields positive results, and attention to detail becomes the standard operating procedure. This significantly improves performance at company facilities and in communities where we work and live," Chellgren commented.

"These awards honor creativity, commitment and courage. These examples should be emulated by others. The winners have set standards and provided models for others to follow, both at work, and in their community," Chellgren concluded.

A selection committee from industry, education, government and conservation groups reviewed 46 nominations from across the company. Ashland will donate $1,000 for each of the 14 winning projects to a non-profit organization chosen by the winners.

Outstanding projects or actions were recognized in seven categories. The categories and 2000 Chairman’s Challenge Awards winners are:

Acts of Heroism. Two heroic actions by two Valvoline Instant Oil Change employees, Robert Burgener and Keith Philipp, in Dellwood, Mo. and APAC’s Bobby Rowland of Marston, N.C. were recognized. In both instances, human life was saved.

Conservation/Habitat Enhancement. Through the efforts of Kelly Brown and a 7-member team of employees from Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, a ten-year program has been established to create a habitat preserve by the year 2010 in British Columbia, Canada. In a separate project, Ashland Specialty Chemical employee Glenn Magrum is working to convert a closed landfill in Ashland County, Ohio into a native grassland prairie, with watchable wildlife.

Distinctive Achievement/Community Activities. This year, there were four awards in this category. First, the engineering department with a team of 59 employees from Ashland Specialty Chemicals refurbished a portion of an old church in downtown Columbus to house a library and computer room to provide a safe haven for at-risk youth. The second award, with special international recognition, involves the sponsorship of a racing boat in Cantabria, Spain at the Bilboa Rowing Club. Ashland Specialty Chemical employee Ramon Vitorica has developed broad, enthusiastic followers, which now number in the thousands, and the sponsorship program has increased open communication and trust between Ashland and the local authorities. The third award was presented to Ashland Inc. corporate employees Rhonda Holehouse and Michael Cornett, who for over a decade, have organized household hazardous waste collection weekends in Dublin, Ohio. The collection days have produced 1,000 to 2,000 drop-offs of household hazardous waste, representing more than 50,000 pounds of household hazardous waste. Finally, Jerry Precise and 8 Valvoline employees in the Deer Park, Texas plant have begun a mentoring program at nearby Gardens Elementary School, where a majority of the students are from a low-income area and Hispanic. The employees work with the students on their math skills, and have held "pep rallies" to increase student’s excitement about learning. The program will continue this school year.

Pollution Prevention. Faisal Zekry and five employees of the Mississauga, Ontario foundry plant in Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, were recognized for the reduction of emissions and pollution prevention. The group has also been recognized by the Ministry of Environment and Energy in Ontario. The group developed a system to recycle the chemical xylene, and now its annual savings are estimated at over 760,000 pounds per year.

Product Stewardship. APAC’s Mark Marine in Kissimmee, Fla., received one of the two product stewardship awards for his leading role in designing and engineering the new Kissimmee asphalt plant. The plant was the winner of the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s 1999 Ecological Award for a new facility. The second product stewardship award was presented to Ram Mani of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company in Dublin, Ohio, for his development of reduced residual free formaldehyde used in filtration papers for the filtration industry. The breakthrough greatly decreases exposure risks for employees, as well as volatile emissions. The work will be patented, and the technology will be transferred to other areas to minimize formaldehyde exposure and emissions.

Safety and Emergency Management. Four years ago, the foundry division of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company began an initiative to implement a global process safety program for its manufacturing sites. State-of-the-art measurements were used to evaluate reactive processes in chemical reactors. Global policies have been developed, and technical papers were presented and published at several national and international trade meetings. John Cusham and Enio Kumpinsky in Dublin, Ohio, also developed specific emergency response procedures and process safety training that have been provided to all facilities in multiple languages. A second award in this category was presented to Robert L. Smith, a corporate employee in Dublin, Ohio, for his successful design and implementation of the U.S. EPA risk management program. Smith directed the development of 21 site-specific plans for key facilities. The plans include worst-case scenario modeling, and specific actions and opportunities to reduce off-site consequences for facility incidents.

Wellness and Health. Rick Dye of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company in Camilus, N.Y., has, for more than five years, served as volunteer for therapeutic horseback riding for adults and children with disabilities. But Rick’s entire family is also involved, spending many of their holidays and weekends at the nearby Pegasus Farm. Rick has chaired a spring festival, recognition dinners for other volunteers, and a speakers bureau to provide training and raise awareness to area civic groups.

Ashland, Inc.

Ashland, Inc.

More from Ashland, Inc.