Exhibit 31.1


                               CERTIFICATION

Statement  Pursuant  to Section  302 of the  Sarbanes-Oxley  Act of 2002 by
Chief  Executive  Officer  Regarding  Facts and  Circumstances  Relating to
Exchange Act Filings.

I, James J. O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Ashland Inc., certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K/A of Ashland Inc.;

2.       Based on my  knowledge,  this  report  does not contain any untrue
         statement  of a  material  fact or omit to state a  material  fact
         necessary  to  make  the   statements   made,   in  light  of  the
         circumstances   under  which  such   statements   were  made,  not
         misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.       Based  on  my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other
         financial  information included in this report,  fairly present in
         all  material  respects  the  financial   condition,   results  of
         operations  and cash flows of the  registrant  as of, and for, the
         periods presented in this report;

4.       The registrant's  other certifying  officers and I are responsible
         for   establishing   and  maintaining   disclosure   controls  and
         procedures  (as  defined  in  Exchange  Act  Rules  13a-15(e)  and
         15d-15(e) for the registrant and have:

         a)   Designed such disclosure  controls and procedures,  or caused
              such disclosure  controls and procedures to be designed under
              our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
              to the registrant,  including its consolidated  subsidiaries,
              is  made  known  to  us  by  others  within  those  entities,
              particularly  during the period in which this report is being
              prepared;

         b)   Evaluated the  effectiveness of the  registrant's  disclosure
              controls  and  procedures  and  presented  in this report our
              conclusions   about  the   effectiveness  of  the  disclosure
              controls and procedures,  as of the end of the period covered
              by this report based on such evaluation; and

         c)   Disclosed  in this  report  any  change  in the  registrant's
              internal  control  over  financial  reporting  that  occurred
              during the  registrant's  most  recent  fiscal  quarter  (the
              registrant's  fourth fiscal  quarter in the case of an annual
              report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
              to materially affect, the registrant's  internal control over
              financial reporting; and

5.       The registrant's  other certifying  officers and I have disclosed,
         based on our most  recent  evaluation  of  internal  control  over
         financial  reporting,  to the registrant's  auditors and the audit
         committee  of   registrant's   board  of  directors   (or  persons
         performing the equivalent functions):

         a)   All significant  deficiencies and material  weaknesses in the
              design  or  operation  of  internal  control  over  financial
              reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
              registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
              financial information; and

         b)   Any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management
              or  other  employees  who  have  a  significant  role  in the
              registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date:  March 15, 2005

                                     /s/ James J. O'Brien
                                    -------------------------
                                    James J. O'Brien
                                    Chief Executive Officer

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