Owens Corning Re-Opens L’Ardoise Plant After Record Floods Forced Shutdown;

BRUSSELS, Belgium – February 23, 2004 – After severe, record regional flooding in early December 2003 forced the shutdown of Owens Corning’s glass fiber production facility in L’Ardoise, France, the company announced today that the plant is back on-stream and producing products – weeks earlier than expected.

“To quote one of our employees, the effects of this flood were nothing short of ‘apocalyptic,’ said Owens Corning European Vice President of Composites Raymund Trost. “The fact that we were able to immediately muster the full range of Owens Corning’s worldwide technical and supply resources to fulfill our commitment to customers with little or no disruption during this difficult period is truly a testament to the value working with a global corporation brings to the table.”

To meet customer orders while operations were restored, resources from Owens Corning manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, India, Korea, Norway, and the U.S. were tapped. In the plant, local and global OC teams worked 24/7 to restore operations -- in the early days, inspecting the plant by boat, the only feasible method of transport.

The L’Ardoise plant supplies customers in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa with glass fiber materials used in a range of industrial markets including automotive, building and construction, consumer goods, electronics, sports and recreation, and telecommunications.