ANACORTES, WA — Shell Puget Sound Refinery (Shell PSR) announced that the refinery has received ISO 14001 environmental management standard certification. This international standard certification places the refinery in the top tier for environmental management practices of industrial facilities around the world. The Shell Puget Sound Refinery is the second of the four refineries in Northwest Washington to receive this certification. All of the Shell US refineries have embarked on a goal to obtain certification to the ISO 14001 standard.
Shell PSR has long stated its commitment to the highest levels of environmental protection. The refinery initiated the ISO 14001 certification process in 2003, recognizing that the process alone would help the refinery evaluate and improve its environmental performance. The certification process, conducted by a qualified third party certifying firm, involves thorough assessment and evaluation of a multitude of refinery processes, including all production processes, maintenance and administration.
As part of a corporate culture initiative, Shell PSR involved the entire refinery staff in the certification process. Everyone in the refinery, including all routine contractors, participated in a four-hour training session on environmental awareness. These training sessions emphasized the role that everyone needs to play in environmental performance and how the goals could be attained only by everyone’s full participation. Additionally, all employees and contractors participated in a new annual refinery-wide clean-up day that included not only the 800-acre facility, but also nearby roads and highways.
Shell PSR also designated area owners and an environmental improvement council. The area owners assume responsibility over specific units, facilities or areas within the refinery. These people are responsible for making certain that their area is maintained properly, kept clean and does not contribute to environmental impacts. The environmental improvement council is made up of the area owners, members of the Refinery Leadership Team and other designated employees. This group regularly conducts physical walks around the entire facility to carefully inspect all the areas and operations to evaluate improvements and what still needs to be addressed. An action list is created from each of these walk-arounds and assignments made to complete any identified items.
Certification Process
The third party certifying firm conducted several assessments, made specific recommendations to Shell PSR for improvements, and returned several times to reassess the refinery and gauge the organization’s progress against the recommendations. At the end of the certification process the certifying firm recommended that Shell PSR receive the ISO 14001 certification, recognizing the refinery as meeting the international standard for environmental management systems. This certification is an objective and high quality seal of approval on practices employed at the refinery aimed at minimizing impacts to the environment.
While the term "certification" usually indicates a completion of the process, in the case of ISO 14001 certification, it is actually a verification that management systems are in place that will generate continuous improvement. That means the process is ongoing and the work aimed at improving environmental management will go on continuously with ever-improving results. A qualified certification firm will conduct periodic verifications that the certified systems are in place and are providing ongoing improvements.
ISO 14001
The ISO 14000 standard families are known as one of the "generic management system standards." This means that the same “generic” standards can be applied to any organization, large or small, whatever its product - including whether its "product" is actually a service - in any sector of activity, and whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department. "Management system" refers to what the organization does to manage its processes or activities.
Specifically, ISO 14001 is an internationally accepted specification for an Environmental Management System. It specifies requirements for:
• Establishing an environmental policy
• Determining environmental aspects and impacts of products, activities and services
• Planning environmental objectives and measurable targets
• Implementation and operation of programs to meet objectives and targets
• Checking progress toward attaining targets and corrective action
• Ongoing management review
ERM CVS Certification
ERM CVS (Environmental Resource Management Certification and Verification Service) the a London-based organization that provided Shell Puget Sound Refinery's certification to ISO 14001 standards, also certifies organizations to other European and international environmental standards. The organization is overseen by an advisory board that is chaired by Mr. Derek Osborn, former Director General of Environment at the U.K. Government’s Department of the Environment.
While all certification companies are charged with verifying compliance with ISO 14001 standards, there is considerable difference in approach and methodology between the different companies. ERM CVS is widely recognized for its assessment methods and the rigor of its certification process. One aspect of its process is its evaluation of real performance and not just adherence to the standards on paper. ERM CVS personnel visited the refinery in person on numerous occasions with complete access to all locations, personnel and facilities.
Shell Puget Sound Refinery engaged ERM CVS in order to gain the highest level of Environmental Management System attainment. As stated on the ERM CVS website, “Certification from ERM CVS is recognized as an outstanding mark of excellence in EHS (Environmental, Health and Safety) management, particularly by those working in the EHS field, regulators, ethical investors, industry associations, and interest groups.”
About ISO Standards Certification
ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, formally organized in 1947, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, is a network of the standards institutes of its 156 member countries. The primary function of the non-governmental organization is to publish international standards in a variety of industries in order to facilitate trade and technology transfer. ISO has published more than 15,000 standards of which the vast majority are highly specific to products, materials, and processes.
ISO standards are voluntary and the organization has no regulatory authority. Additionally, ISO as an organization does not verify whether or not companies or organizations are meeting their standards. They do, however, certify companies that have the demonstrated capability of assessing organizations to determine if they meet the ISO standards. It is these certifying companies that provide the certification under strict regulation by ISO. For more information on ISO and ISO certifications visit www.iso.org.
Disclaimer statement:
This announcement contains forward-looking statements, that are subject to risk factors associated with the oil, gas, power, chemicals and renewables business. It is believed that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, but may be affected by a variety of variables which could cause actual results, trends or reserves replacement to differ materially, including, but not limited to: price fluctuations, actual demand, currency fluctuations, drilling and production results, reserve estimates, loss of market, industry competition, environmental risks, physical risks, risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets and the successful negotiation and consummation of transactions, the risk of doing business in developing countries, legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including potential litigation and regulatory effects arising from recategorisation of reserves, economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions, political risks, project delay or advancement, approvals and cost estimates.
Please refer to the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2004 (as amended) for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect the Shell Group's businesses. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any member of the Shell Group undertakes any obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or other information.
Cautionary Note to US Investors:
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this presentation, such as "expected producible resources" and "amount of reserves we expect to produce", that the SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC.
-END-
Gerald Baron
voice: (360) 303-9123
gbaron@baron-co.com