MEMC Provides Status Update on Pasadena Facility

ST. PETERS, Mo., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.(NYSE:WFR)today provided an update on the status of its facility in Pasadena, Texas, which experienced a raw material release last week. As previously disclosed, the company had proactively shut down front-end (silane) operations to perform a thorough safety review to ensure a safe working environment.

"Our primary concern is always for the safety of people working on our sites," said Nabeel Gareeb, MEMC's President and CEO. "We are thankful that everyone who was transported to area hospitals for evaluation and/or treatment has now been released. As a result of the safety review, we continue to believe this incident was due to a faulty transfer line, and we will thoroughly investigate this further through third party analysis. We are proud of how our employees responded during this trying period, and look forward to moving past this unfortunate incident."

The company confirmed that production at its Pasadena facility did resume on Friday, April 25, 2008, consistent with the company's prior announcement, and all three of the facility's silane units are operational. The company does not anticipate providing any further updates regarding this incident.

About MEMC

MEMC is a global leader in the manufacture and sale of wafers and related intermediate products to the semiconductor and solar industries. MEMC has been a pioneer in the design and development of wafer technologies over the past four decades. With R&D and manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, MEMC enables the next generation of high performance semiconductor devices and solar cells. MEMC's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'WFR' and is included in the S&P 500 Index.

CONTACT: Bill Michalek, Director, Investor Relations of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc., +1-636-474-5443

Web site: http://www.memc.com/

SOURCE MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.