DuPont Learns Lessons From Katrina, Reopens
Key Plant
by Wire Service
July 22,
2006
NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) - DuPont Co.,
which shut 14 plants last autumn due to damage from hurricanes,
on Thursday said it has strengthened a flood wall at its most
badly damaged chemical facility in DeLisle, Mississippi.
DuPont, the No. 2 U.S. chemicals maker, said
it has finished building a 12-foot steel wall on top of an
existing 20-foot earthen levee at DeLisle, a titanium dioxide
plant.
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DeLisle restarted in January and was running
near-capacity in April, eight months after it was badly damaged by
flooding from Hurricane Katrina.
Titanium dioxide, a white pigment, is used in
paper, plastics and paints. DeLisle is a big supplier to the Asian
market and its shutdown last year hurt DuPont's profits at the end
of 2005.
DuPont spent $12 million on the new wall, which
was initially expected to cost $15 million to $20 million, the
company said in an announcement on Thursday.
Construction began in May and was completed in
mid-July, DuPont said.
The hurricane season is now underway in the United
States.
"Katrina taught us that no amount of preparation
is a guarantee, but we think this project goes a long way toward
protecting our employees, customers and investors from the effects
of future storms," said Rick Olson, vice president and general
manager of DuPont Titanium Technologies.
The enhanced levee and flood wall stand 32 feet
tall.
DuPont, the second-largest U.S. chemicals producer
after Dow Chemical Co., is the world's largest manufacturing of
titanium dioxide.
