Dow shuts units in Midland home base as Michigan reels from floods

LONDON (ICIS)–Dow has started shutting down facilities as part of emergency plans activated at its Midland, Michigan, facilities, after two dams collapsed due to heavy rainfall, the US chemicals major said on Wednesday.

Midland County was declared under state of emergency by Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer.

According to authorities, some parts of Midland could be under 2.7m (9ft) of water.

“Dow has activated its local emergency operations centre and is implementing its flood preparedness plan which includes the safe shutdown of operating units on site,” said the company.

“Only essential Dow staff needed to monitor the situation and manage any issues as a result of the flooding remain on site.”

Among others, Dow operates in Midland plants producing glycol ethers and methyl chloride.

The company’s headquarters have been based there since its foundation in 1897.

Chemicals major Trinseo also has facilities in Midland, producing acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN).

The Edenville dam was built in 1925, while the site currently known as Sandford Lake was also made in 1925 after the damming of the Tittabawassee River.

“This is unlike anything we’ve seen in Midland County,” said Whitmer at a news conference, quoted by the UK’s BBC news network.

“To go through this in the midst of a global pandemic is almost unthinkable.”

Map by Miguel Rodriguez-Fernandez

Clarification: Re-casts paragraph 8, clarifies companies with production facilities in the area