News Release

BNSF Plans to Construct Seven-Mile Rail Line in Texas To Serve The Dow Chemical Company's Seadrift

FORT WORTH, Texas, February 26, 2001:

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) today announced it has entered into an agreement with The Dow Chemical Company to provide competitive rail service to Dow’s petrochemicals plant in Seadrift, Texas, about 120 miles southwest of Houston.

As part of this agreement, BNSF will construct a seven-mile rail line from Kamey to Seadrift, Texas in Calhoun County, to serve Dow’s Seadrift Operation.

“Currently Dow’s Seadrift Operation is directly served by only one railroad,” says George Duggan, vice president, BNSF Chemicals Business Unit. “The construction of this new rail line allows BNSF to provide competitive commercial solutions to the marketplace.”

The new rail line will tie into BNSF’s rail network by way of trackage rights between Placedo and Kamey, Texas.

Contingent upon regulatory approvals, construction is expected to be completed in 2003.

Dow is a leading science and technology company that provides innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $28 billion, Dow serves customers in more than 160 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress, including food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 50,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, BNSF operates one of the largest rail networks in North America, with 33,500 route miles of track covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is dedicated to safety in the transportation of chemicals, and is a partner in the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care™ Program.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000