ROHM AND HAAS SETTLES ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS IN MISSISSIPPI

28-Oct-2000

Philadelphia, PA, October 26, 2000 /PRNewswire/ -- Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE: ROH) today announced that it has reached an agreement with the USEPA, The Department of Justice and the State of Mississippi, resolving environmental issues relating to the Morton Moss Point, MS adhesives and sealants plant, which the company acquired as part of its purchase of Morton International, Inc. in June, 1999. "We have been cooperating with federal and state agency representatives to resolve certain historic environmental issues associated with the Morton Moss Point facility. Today, I am pleased to announce that those issues have been successfully and amicably resolved," said Mike Fitzpatrick, president and chief operating officer of Rohm and Haas Company. As part of the $38 million settlement agreement, Rohm and Haas will install comprehensive hazardous waste controls, including the construction and renovation of waste management units at its Morton Moss Point plant. The company will also conduct site investigations and, if contamination is found, will remediate it to standards approved by state and federal officials. The settlement includes the payment of $20 million in civil penalties, $2 million in criminal penalties, $10 million toward a plant waste minimization supplemental environmental project (SEP), $4 million to the community of Moss Point for upgrades and extensions of its sewer system and $2 million to the University of Southern Mississippi?s School of Polymer Science for pollution prevention research. The consent decree grew out of Morton?s discovery and disclosure, in 1996, of irregularities in the plant?s reports of its waste water discharge into the Escatawpa River. After further investigation, the plant learned that its environmental manager was filing false waste water discharge and groundwater monitoring reports with the state Department of Environmental Quality. The environmental manager was immediately terminated by Morton for these actions and has been indicted and pleaded guilty to falsifying reports. Subsequent investigations into the plant?s environmental practices found additional concerns regarding the disposal of chemical waste into an approved underground injection well. "Environmental compliance is built on trust. Today?s complex chemical plants must not only have systems in place that provide accurate ways of measuring and monitoring these operations but people fully committed to obeying the law and respecting human health and the environment. That is our mission at Moss Point and with every site Rohm and Haas Company owns," said Fitzpatrick. "Our goal as a company is to meet or exceed all applicable laws and regulations and strive for continual improvement in our environmental, health and safety performance. I am confident our workers at the Moss Point facility and the surrounding community are not at risk as a result of our chemical operations. Many of the necessary environmental management systems are already in place and we are committed to bringing the facility into full compliance. That includes eliminating or reducing emissions, discharges and wastes from every stage of our Moss Point operations," Fitzpatrick said. The company also agreed to independent third-party audits of other former Morton sites it owns to assure they are in environmental compliance. Rohm and Haas is a $7 billion specialty chemical company and employs more than 21,000 people. The company operates approximately 150 manufacturing and research sites in 25 countries around the world. With the acquisition of Morton International in 1999, Rohm and Haas expanded its business portfolio in performance polymers, chemical specialties, electronic materials, salt and surface finishes. Rohm and Haas is the recipient of numerous awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including two Presidential Green chemistry Awards, the only company to win the award twice.

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