Evonik Receives Two Prestigious Railroad Transportation Safety Awards    

Company Cited For Safe Handling Of Cargo; Maintaining Strict Safety Standards    

PARSIPPANY, N.J., May 13, 2008 - CN, one of the world’s largest railroads, has awarded 2007 Safe Handling Awards to Evonik Degussa Corporation and CYRO Industries – both part of Essen, Germany-based Evonik Industries - for their hard work and dedication to safety in handling large amounts of cargo.  

The CN Award to Evonik Degussa Corporation recognized shipments from the company's Gibbons, Canada, hydrogen peroxide facility.  

“These awards were established to recognize customers for handling goods carefully and judiciously, and for respecting high standards,” said Jerry Boland, CN’s Vice President, Sales Industrial Products. “Our customers and employees work together to meet the day-to-day challenges of maintaining a safe operation. Like CN, our customers do not hesitate to make safety a priority.”  

Thomas Bates, president of Parsippany, New Jersey-based Evonik Degussa Corporation, said the company was honored to receive the recognition. “Safety is an integral part of everything we do at Evonik,” said Bates. “It is gratifying when a well-respected company such as CN recognizes our safety practices.”  

Matthias Heil, Evonik Degussa Corporation’s Director Logistics, who accepted the award along with Evonik’s Ted Sattur, manager operations, planning and fleet for active oxygens, at ceremonies in Montreal, Canada, added that logistics is at the heart of the global economy. “It is gratifying when someone like CN recognizes the dedication of our employees for safely transporting goods,” said Heil. “Many dedicated Evonik Degussa Corporation employees have worked diligently to make this award possible.”  

CYRO has an unyielding commitment to safety, added John Rolando, president of CYRO Industries. “Safety is the foundation on which we have built our business,” said Rolando.  “It is a part of our culture. Our employees realize that safe work practices benefit them personally as well as the company.”   Providing a safe and healthy work environment is just as important as providing customers with superior cost, quality, and service, noted Carlos Gil Mast, Active Oxygens vice president and general manager – Americas. “Without a healthy and safe work environment, employees cannot consistently deliver what is expected of them,” said Gil Mast.  

Guenter Hoelken, Evonik Degussa Corporation’s vice president, procurement and logistics for North America, said transporting products safely is of paramount importance. “Our customers, our employees and the communities where we live and work expect it,” said Hoelken. “The safe handling of products is an integral part of our operations and we are committed to consistently improving the safe transportation of our goods.”  

Bates noted the recognition from CN is the second award in as many months that an outside firm has lauded the company’s safety record. Earlier, Evonik Degussa Corporation received CSX Transportation (CSXT)’s Chemical Safety Excellence Award — an honor that recognizes Evonik Degussa Corporation’s long-standing commitment to rail car maintenance and safety as well as continuous safe tank car loading.  

Launched in 1992, CN’s Safe Handling Awards are presented to customers that load cars and meet strict standards for the safe handling and shipment of regulated products. The winners must meet established criteria, according to the total number of shipments of goods for all facilities.  

Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, BC, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth Minn., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. 

Company information
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employees generated sales of about Euro 14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of more than Euro 1.3 billion (preliminary figures).

Disclaimer
In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.