Ashland Casting Solutions Korea Facility ISO 14001 Certified

DUBLIN, Ohio, April 17 -- The Ashland Casting Solutions facility in Ulsan, South Korea, has received ISO 14001 certification from the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand. This brings eight of nine Ashland Casting Solutions' wholly-owned and joint-venture facilities into ISO certification, while the remaining facility in Brazil is on-target to be ISO registered by early 2004.

"Making ISO certification an organizational priority instills confidence in our global customer base that our products are being manufactured to the highest environmental and quality standards, wherever we do business," said Mike Swartzlander, vice president and general manager, Ashland Casting Solutions. "This ongoing investment in our operations, coupled with our efforts to uphold the principles of Responsible Care(R), demonstrates our commitment to the health, safety and environmental welfare of our communities, employees and the metal casting industry."

ISO 14001 is an international standard for environmental management systems. Ashland Casting Solutions became the first North American manufacturer of metal casting products to achieve ISO certification in June 1998 at its Mississauga facility, followed in October 2001 by its Cleveland East and Cleveland West facilities.

The Korea facility was built in 1993 as a 50-50 joint venture between Ashland and ABC Company and produces resin products for the metal casting industry.

ABOUT ASHLAND

Ashland Casting Solutions, a business unit of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, is a leader in supplying products, processes and technologies to the global metal casting marketplace.

Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, a division of Ashland Inc., is a leading, worldwide supplier of specialty chemicals serving industries including adhesives, automotive, composites, foundry, merchant marine, paint, paper, plastics, semiconductor, watercraft and water treatment. To learn more about these operations, visit us online at www.ashspec.com .

Ashland Inc. is a Fortune 500 company providing products, services and customer solutions throughout the world. Our businesses include road construction, specialty chemicals, lubricants, car-care products, chemical and plastics distribution and transportation fuels. Through the dedication of our employees, we are "The Who In How Things Work(TM)." Find us at www.ashland.com .

  (TM) Trademark, Ashland Inc.
  (R) ASHLAND is a registered trademark of Ashland Inc.
  (R) Responsible Care is a registered service mark of the American
  Chemistry Council in the U.S., of the Canadian Chemical Producers'
  Association and of different entities in other countries.

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