ConocoPhillips Alliance Refinery Presents $1 Million to PPSB

Pictured l to r:  Carol Roberts, Assistant Superintendent; Eva Jones, Superintendent; Betsy Brien, ConocoPhillips Public Affairs Director; Peter Batey, Alliance Refinery Manager

ConocoPhillips Alliance Refinery officials presented a $1 million dollar check to the Plaquemines Parish School System to aid in the rebuilding of the parish school system following Hurricane Katrina.

The School Board will use the $1 million donation to restore and upgrade the Belle Chasse High School's (BCHS) aging science department.  The high school was chosen by school leaders and ConocoPhillips because the parish's other high schools are being rebuilt and will be stocked with the latest equipment.

"We are all in this rebuilding effort together in Plaquemines Parish," said Alliance Refinery Manager Peter Batey.  "We are pleased to be able to direct this donation to education, a top priority with ConocoPhillips.  We hope that our donation will give tomorrow's students a stronger interest and a more solid background in the sciences, which are important today."

Batey, and Public Affairs Director Besty Brien made the check presentation to Plaquemines Parish Superintendent Eva Jones and Assistant Superintendent Carol Roberts.

BCHS Assistant Principal Maria Prout says the money will mean a better future for the approximately 980 students who attend BCHS.  "Society today is more science-based, so we need to better train our students in the sciences," she said.  The high school lab uses 15 year-old equipment, and many resources were depleted when the high shcool was the only one open in the parish following the storm.

With the $1 million donation, the school can build a much needed physics/physical science lab for up to 30 students; update technology for the three existing labs; purchase 120 computers, state-of-the-art microscopes, dissecting kits and other equipment; restock chemical suppllies for experiments, as well as hire a lab assistant, Prout said.

ConocoPhillips has donated a total of $15 million for hurrican-related rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast region following last year's storms.

ConocoPhillips is an integrated petroleum company with interests around the world.  The Alliance Refinery refines 255,000 barrels of crude oil per day into diesel and jet fuel, as well as gasoline, to meet the country's transportation fuel needs.  For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.