Two Decisions Favor Alcoa and EnvironmentIn January 2005, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission re-licensed four hyroelectric dams owned by Alcoa in Tennessee and North Carolina. The facilities, whose license was set to expire in February, now have a 40-year license. Fundamental to the decision was legislation signed by President George W. Bush in October 2004 that allowed for the re-licensing of Alcoa's Tapoco Project, as well as a land exchange and conservation agreement between Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (APGI) and the National Park Service that will result in the preservation of more than 10,000 acres (4,047 hectares) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
      A month earlier, Alcoa reached settlement agreements with various federal and Texas agencies regarding the ongoing cleanup of property at Lavaca Bay, where the company's Point Comfort facility used to operate a chlorine-alkali processing plant. Government officials gave the company credit for its willingness to collaborate in the remediation effort. When it is complete, Alcoa will have spent more than $51.4 million on cleanup and associated costs. The agreements also stipulate the turnover of 729 acres (295 hectares) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for preservation and restoration. Jim Winter, manager corporate real estate for Alcoa, is an IAMC active member.

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      In December 2004, Pa.-based Air Products announced plans to construct an ultra-high purity (UHP) ammonia distillation plant in Ulsan, Korea, to serve the global electronics market in Asia. The company's first Asian project, the plant will be operated by Air Products subsidiary Korea Industrial Gases. The company makes the product at only two other locations, in Hometown, Pa., and Morrisville, Pa. Eugene Ervin, Director, Real Estate and Property Management, and Susan Reber, real estate manager, are IAMC corporate members.

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      January 2005 got the year off to a good start in all directions for Morristown, N.J.-based Honeywell International. In China, where it employs 4,000 people, the Honeywell brand became one of only four to be recognized by the Chinese government as a "well-

Philip Hammel

known" trademark, conferring additional trademark protection on the Honeywell brand in a territory not known for such protections. The company opened an R&D facility in Shanghai in October 2004, just after announcing in August its intent to construct a Shanghai manufacturing plant for non-ozone depleting refrigerant products.
      In the Netherlands, Honeywell was awarded a $6.5-million, eight-year lifecycle management (LCM) contract by the Netherlands subsidiary of Houston-based Lyondell Chemical Co. LCM helps companies manage plant assets through technology support and systems that optimize operational efficiency and decision-making on modernization. Lyondell's $716-million joint venture with Bayer MaterialScience on a manufacturing facility in Maasvlakte, near Rotterdam, is recognized on p. 168 as one of the largest investment projects in 2004.
      Back in the U.S., the Wichita, Kan., city council approved a 30-year lease for Honeywell Aerospace that will allow the division to go ahead with the construction of a $7.3-million, 57,200-sq.-ft. (5,314-sq.-m.) facility that will consolidate personnel from overhaul/repair and sales/support operations into one complex.
      In Chandler, Ariz., the company's electronic materials division has opened a 40,000-sq.-ft. (3,716-sq.-m.) joint venture with Mitsubishi Chemicals Corp. to serve the semiconductor industry, dba GEM Microelectronics Materials LLC. Philip Hammel, director of real estate for Honeywell, is an IAMC member.