"The economic downturn has had a significant impact on our operations in Gainesville," said Walt Turner, president and CEO of Koppers. "It is always difficult to close an operating facility such as Gainesville, as a closure like this directly affects the livelihood of our employees. Despite the closure of this facility, Koppers remains committed to the utility pole business and will continue to serve the needs of customers in the southeastern United States from its Florence, South Carolina wood treating facility. We have always been committed to operating the Gainesville facility in full compliance with state and federal environmental regulations. We do understand that investigation and remediation of historic conditions at this site are important issues in Gainesville, and we are hopeful that those environmental issues, which pre-date our ownership of the facility, will be efficiently and satisfactorily resolved."
Koppers Inc. has operated the Gainesville facility since December 1988, focusing on the treatment and distribution of utility poles, marine pilings and marine lumber.
About Koppers
Koppers, with corporate headquarters and a research center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a global integrated producer of carbon compounds and treated wood products. Including its joint ventures, Koppers operates facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, and China. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KOP." For more information, visit us on the Web: www.koppers.com. Questions concerning investor relations should be directed to Brian H. McCurrie at 412 227 2153 or Michael W. Snyder at 412 227 2131.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may include, but are not limited to, statements about sales levels, restructuring, profitability and anticipated expenses and cash outflows. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature are forward-looking, and words such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "may," "will," "should," "continue," "plans," "intends," "likely," or other similar words or phrases are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement contained herein, in other press releases, written statements or documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in Koppers communications with and discussions with investors and analysts in the normal course of business through meetings, phone calls and conference calls, regarding expectations with respect to sales, earnings, cash flows, operating efficiencies, product introduction or expansion, the benefits of acquisitions and divestitures or other matters as well as financings and repurchases of debt or equity securities, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies. Many of these risks, uncertainties and contingencies are beyond our control, and may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements. Factors that might affect such forward-looking statements, include, among other things, general economic and business conditions, demand for Koppers goods and services, competitive conditions, interest rate and foreign currency rate fluctuations, availability of key raw materials and unfavorable resolution of claims against us, as well as those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Koppers, particularly our latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after that date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contact: Bob Oltmanns (412) 281-5656 x 228 (office) (412) 721-0236 (cell) Email Contact
SOURCE: Koppers Holdings Inc.
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