SPR Contractor Receives 2005 Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award

Recognition for Management Performance Excellence and Continuous Improvement for Customers

Washington, DC  –  Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman today announced that DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Company, operator of the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), has been honored with the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for quality and organizational performance excellence.  President George W. Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez revealed DynMcDermott's award earlier today, along with five other honorees.

MORE INFO Read more about the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige Awards

The Baldrige award is presented annually to organizations that distinguish themselves through management excellence and continuous improvement to stakeholders.  Headquartered in New Orleans, DynMcDermott becomes the first Louisiana organization to receive this prestigious award.

"This honor will come as no surprise to those who are familiar with DynMcDermott and their work to support our nation's energy security," Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said.  "Their heroic performance to move crude oil to the market in response to the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- even while their own employees faced losses and displacement from their homes  -- was truly inspiring."
 
DynMcDermott operates the Department of Energy's four Strategic Petroleum Reserve crude oil storage sites located along the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana and Texas.  Together, these sites have the capability to store more than 700 million barrels of crude oil in underground salt domes.  The most recent use of the SPR was immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, disrupting crude oil production, transportation, and refining capabilities in the region.  In response, President Bush directed the Department of Energy to both loan and sell oil from the SPR to ease the market disruption and production delays caused by the hurricanes.
 
The SPR has been the recipient of numerous awards for management quality, environmental stewardship, and safety programs, including being awarded the Louisiana Performance Excellence Award on three separate occasions; the Louisiana Department of Economic Development Lantern Award; the Texas Performance Excellence Award; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP); Louisiana Environmental Management Award; and the National Association of Environmental Professionals National Excellence Award.
 
Named after the 26th Secretary of Commerce, Congress established the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program in 1988 to recognize U.S. organizations for their achievements in quality and performance, as well as to raise awareness about their importance as a competitive advantage.  The U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, administers the program.  An awards ceremony will be held in Washington, D.C. in early 2006.
 
The other 2005 Baldrige Award recipients are:

• Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc., Monticello, Minn. (manufacturing);
• Park Place Lexus, Plano, Texas (small business);
• Richland College, Dallas, Texas (education);
• Jenks Public Schools, Jenks, Okla. (education); and
• Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo, Mich. (health care).

For more information, contact: Drew Malcomb, DOE Office of Public Affairs, 202-586-5806