The American Chemistry Council (ACC) kicked off its 21st Annual Responsible Care Conference and Expo by honoring member and Partner companies, as well as individuals that have made significant contributions to the environment, health, safety, and security in the chemical industry.

The annual Responsible Care Conference, which highlights the industry’s world-class environmental, health, safety, and security performance initiative, provides a forum for industry leaders to learn from their peers and other experts in the field about strategies to improve their companies’ performance and expand business opportunities.

This year’s conference also will focus on the ongoing strategic review of the Responsible Care program, which will culminate later this year with the announcement of improvements to further enhance the performance, credibility, and strength of the industry in the product and process safety arenas, the inclusion of energy efficiency as part of Responsible Care, as well as enhanced performance measurement and reporting on environmental issues and energy efficiency.

“For nearly 25 years, ACC member and Partner companies have implemented Responsible Care to significantly enhance their performance, improve the health and safety of their employees and the communities in which they operate, and enrich the environment as a whole,” said Greg Babe, chair of ACC’s Board Committee on Responsible Care and president and CEO of Bayer Corporation and Bayer MaterialScience LLC. “As we are enhancing our program to further improve Responsible Care, we are pleased to acknowledge those companies and individuals who have gone above and beyond to serve as true examples of our industry’s finest.”

ACC Responsible Care award winners qualify based on exemplary performance, and are selected by an external expert committee. The following awards were presented this morning at the 2012 Responsible Care Conference & Expo:

The Responsible Care Employee of the Year Award is presented to one member and one Partner company employee for outstanding leadership in Responsible Care. This year’s Member Company Employee of the Year Award winner is Rollie B. Shook, Emergency Services & Security Associate Director with Dow Chemical Co. Shook also is chair of the National Transcaer Task Group, where he provides expertise on emergency planning and response on a global basis, He has been a leader both within Dow and nationally on emergency response and planning and security systems management.

The Partner Company Employee of the Year Award is being presented to Kevin ‘Skip’ Parker, safety director with Service Transport Co. Parker was a key driver in building and expanding support for Responsible Care among Service Transport corporate leadership and has mentored other Partner companies in program implementation and recruited additional companies to the program.

The Responsible Care Partner Award recognizes the performance and excellent safety record of companies involved in the distribution, transportation, storage, use, treatment-disposal, and/or sales and marketing of chemicals. This year’s Responsible Care Partner Award winners are: Kansas City Southern Railway in Kansas City, MO, Miller Transporters Inc. from Jackson, MI, and WTS Inc., based in Lewiston, NY.

The Responsible Care Performance Award recognizes those member companies who excelled at helping ACC meet industry-wide safety and product stewardship targets. This year, 17 companies received the Performance Award, including:

• Akzo Nobel Chemicals Inc.
• Albemarle Corp.
• Arkema Inc.
• Cabot Corp.
• Dow Corning Corp.
• El Dorado Nitrogen LP
• Ethyl Corp.
• Honeywell
• Linde North America Inc.
• Marathon Petroleum Company LP
• Merisol USA LLC
• Methanex Corp.
• PQ Corp.
• R. T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc.
• SI Group
• The HallStar Co.
• W.R. Grace & Co.

The Responsible Care Facility Safety Certificate is presented to member companies based on achievements in employee health and safety performance. The following 40 companies are receiving ACC’s 2012 Facility Safety Certificates:

• Afton Chemical Corp.
• Akzo Nobel Chemicals Inc.
• Albemarle Corp.
• Arch Chemicals Inc.
• Arkema Inc.
• BASF Corp.
• Bayer Corp.
• Braskem America Inc.
• Cabot Corp.
• Carus Corp.
• Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP
• Dow
• Eastman Chemical Co.
• Ecolab Inc.
• El Dorado Nitrogen, LP
• Ethyl Corp.
• Evonik Degussa Corp.
• Honeywell
• ICL North America
• ISP Chemco Inc.
• LyondellBasell Industries N.V.
• The Lubrizol Corp.
• 3M
• Marathon Petroleum Company LP
• Merisol USA LLC
• Momentive Performance Materials Holdings LLC
• Olin Corp.
• OMNOVA Solutions Inc.
• Occidental Chemical Corp.
• Praxair Inc.
• Rhodia Inc.
• SABIC Innovative Plastics
• Sartomer USA, LLC
• Shell Chemical Co.
• SNF Holding Co.
• Solutia Inc.
• Solvay America Inc.
• Taminco
• Texas Brine Company LLC
• W.R. Grace & Co.

Responsible Care is the chemical industry’s world-class environmental, health, safety and security performance initiative. For nearly 25 years, Responsible Care has helped ACC member companies significantly enhance their performance and reputation, discover new business opportunities, and improve the health and safety of their employees and communities and the environment as a whole. For more information, visit www.americanchemistry.com/rc.