The Dow Environmental Reporting Project, a complex undertaking to standardize and streamline the company's emissions management processes across facilities and with outside partners, was awarded "Best of the Best" for 2008 by crisis-management software company ESS and BNP Media.

The project not only managed to improve the accuracy of Dow's reporting, but also saved the company more than $2 million by eliminating obsolete or duplicate reporting methods. It was selected in part for its innovative use of information technology to promote new and more-efficient practices across work sites.

Developed by Dow's Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) division in conjunction with the company's IS department, CH2M Hill, and ESS itself, the program used ESS's Essential Suite of reporting and compliance tools to standardize reporting methods.

The ESS Excellence Awards, co-sponsored by BNP Media's Pollution Engineering and Industrial Safety & Hygiene News magazines, were launched in 2006. This year's awards drew hundreds of applications, and Dow Chemical was among 31 organizations that received 2008 ESS Excellence Awards. Among the other companies recognized for their success were Alcoa, Campbell Soup Company, Duke Energy, Seagate Technology and many others.

"The number and variety of organizations that applied -- ranging from petrochemical, manufacturing, transportation and other industries to government agencies, universities and public utilities -- proves that EH&S and Crisis Management are now business imperatives," Robert Johnson, ESS President and CEO of ESS, explained in a statement. "Organizations everywhere need to address critical EH&S issues in order to reduce operational complexities, risks and costs and achieve their sustainability goals. This also enables organizations like Dow to make better decisions, enhance planning and take a more holistic view from the plant level to senior management."

ESS's case study on the Environmental Reporting Project is available on the ESS website.