Product-related Health Risks
Marathon produces, uses and manufactures potentially hazardous materials and
products such as natural gas, gasoline and diesel fuel. Product Stewardship
principles in the Company's management systems require supplying information
to, and working with, applicable parties to foster the safe use, handling,
transportation, storage, recycling, reuse and disposal of its materials,
products and wastes.
Marathon develops Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) on the health and safety aspects of manufacturing, storing, using and disposing of its products. MSDS are available to customers, contractors, transporters and others who may come in contact with Marathon's products. They also are accessible to the public on Marathon's external Web site and to employees through internal databases and via hard copy where necessary.
Marathon also seeks opportunities to strengthen its product stewardship practices. For example, the Company produces and sells slurry oil primarily for use as fuel. Modifications at several Company refineries are making the slurry product safer. A customer qualification process was developed to ensure that slurry customers are knowledgeable of the risks and equipped to safely handle heated slurry. Marathon is implementing this type of qualification process for additional high-risk products identified in its product risk assessment process.
To ensure personal safety and regulatory compliance and meet or exceed customer expectations, the Company focuses on consistently providing high-quality products. Quality assurance activities include comprehensive certification testing before products leave the refinery gate; implementing procedural and engineering controls and oversight testing through distribution systems; conducting risk assessments; investigating quality incidents and initiating corrective
actions; and sharing information and best practices across organizations to help prevent recurrence.
Security
Marathon provides security risk assessments, loss prevention strategies and site
security for all of its facilities worldwide. In the U.S., some Marathon
facilities must comply with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) laws and
regulations designed to protect critical infrastructure and ensure chemical
security. One of these laws, the Marine Transportation Security Act (MTSA),
requires covered facilities to conduct Security Vulnerability Assessments (SVAs)
with the goal to protect facilities, personnel and communities. All Marathon
refineries, terminals and pipeline facilities conduct periodic SVAs to comply
with MTSA or voluntarily in accordance with Responsible Care®. During 2007,
Marathon completed SVAs for the pipeline system and for terminals and pipeline
segments that are not on the list of critical facilities. Operating components
with SVAs completed in prior years implemented security countermeasures for
specific facilities in 2007.
Some Marathon employees and contractors are required to obtain Transportation Workers Identification Credentials (TWIC) cards to gain unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA-regulated facilities and vessels. Marathon is working with these personnel to ensure they obtain their credentials by the September 2008 deadline.
Marathon also submitted data related to the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) released by DHS in 2007. The Company is awaiting the agency's determination on whether any of its facilities will be required to comply with CFATS, which imposes comprehensive federal security regulations on chemical facilities considered to be high risk.
