PITTSBURG, CA, Sept. 28, 2011 -- The Dow Chemical Company and K2 Pure Solutions announced the successful start-up of a new chlor-alkali plant at Dow's Pittsburg, California site.

The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will produce bleach to serve municipal water treatment facilities in Northern California. In addition, the new plant will supply Dow's Pittsburg operations with chlorine for the manufacture of crop protection products and other materials.

K2 Pure built and operates the new plant at the Dow Pittsburg, California site. As part of their agreement, K2 Pure is leasing an additional facility to Dow, which K2 Pure operates to generate chlorine for use by Dow via pipeline.

The project, including both facilities, has an annual capacity of 460 million pounds of chlor-alkali products. K2 Pure utilizes salt-to-bleach technology, which uses salt, water and electricity as the principle raw materials necessary to produce bleach and chlor-alkali products. Additionally, with the major investment in state-of-the-art fuel cells, K2 Pure will recycle 100 percent of the hydrogen from the plant and re-use it to create clean energy that can help power the facility without the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

"The Pittsburg facility aligns with Dow's ambitious 2015 Sustainability Goals to strengthen relationships within the communities where we operate, improve our product stewardship, reduce our global footprint, and solve some of the world's most pressing problems - including a more sustainable supply of food and fresh water," said Dow Executive Vice President Mike Gambrell. "It also contributes to our efforts to reduce hazardous material shipments, in alignment with these goals."

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