May 2006 - NPRA Awards

EVERGREEEN WINS FOUR NPRA AWARDS

Austin, TX, May 4, 2006 – NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, today recognized facilities in the petroleum refining and petrochemical manufacturing industries, and contractors supporting the industries, for outstanding achievements in safe operations for the calendar year 2005. James Mahoney, NPRA Chairman of the Board and Vice President, Operations, Koch Industries, presented the awards to the facilities' representatives during the annual Safety Awards Banquet, as part of NPRA's National Safety Conference May 3 - 4, 2006, in Austin, TX.

Recognizing Evergreen's safety culture, Sterling Chemicals, Valero Houston Refinery, NOVA Chemicals and Pasadena Refining Systems Inc. all nominated the company for the NPRA Contractor Merit award.

"All four of these companies have set high standards for safety performance, and we are honored that each has nominated Evergreen for the NPRA award," said Jon Hodges, Evergreen's CEO. "I participate in the contractor safety committee for each site, and the commitment to safety is evident," said Todd Carson, Evergreen’s safety coordinator. "You can't be a spectator when it comes to safety in these locations. You must be willing to commit to being the very best." The Contractor Award for Meritorious Safety Performance is awarded to process area contractors on a per site basis who are nominated by a refinery or petrochemical facility member. A contractor must achieve a total recordable incidence rate of 1.2 or less for the calendar year at an individual site with the qualifier that the contractor must have worked a minimum of 20,000 hours at that client site.

NPRA President Bob Slaughter said, "Ensuring the safety of employees, contractors and communities in all industry endeavors is always the highest priority for NPRA members. The National Safety Conference (NSC) recognizes outstanding safety achievements and encourages best practices for the safety and well-being of employees, the public and the environment. The NSC is especially relevant this year, given the events of last summer in the wake of the hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast. Many refineries sustained serious damage; however, to the great credit of the refining and petrochemical industries' employees, facilities were back on-line and operating safely and efficiently in a relatively short period of time."