Louisiana Operations in Plaquemine, Grand Bayou Operations in Grand Bayou, and St. Charles Operations in Hahnville, LA are keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall at approximately 7am CDT near Grand Isle, LA.

Hurricane Katrina has weakened in strength. However, it is still currently a strong Category 3 hurricane. High winds continue throughout the area, and are expected to continue throughout the morning. On its current track, it appears the western eyewall will bypass New Orleans to the east.

The sites are maintaining an unwavering focus on the safety of employees and the communities, and Hurricane Management Teams are monitoring the situation very closely. The teams will continue to examine and communicate the latest forecasting information to their respective sites, and review all activities to ensure safe operations for the duration of Hurricane Katrina.

All production units have made appropriate preparations to safely manage this storm. These preparations have included securing loose equipment or items throughout that site, assigning hurricane shift duty crews and following the site-specific Hurricane Preparedness Procedures. Site hurricane plans include phased processes that allow the facilities to move to different levels of operation depending on weather forecasts or actual conditions.

Each plant and department has defined the staffing required to monitor through this hurricane threat. Plans represent minimum staffing and leadership to manage through a hurricane threat and provide relief for extended duty.

Monday is not a normal work day for any of these sites, and only Hurricane Duty personnel will be working on Monday. Future work schedules will be communicated as the situation unfolds.