Hazmat transportationRail, chemical companies recognized for safety measures

TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) announced it was recognizing, with its 2010 TRANSCAER National Achievement Award, seven rail transport and chemical companies which are helping communities prepare for and respond to possible hazardous materials transportation incidents.

“Through TRANSCAER, first responders receive the information and training they need to effectively respond in the unlikely event of a chemical transportation incident, to protect the public and safeguard our communities,” said Rollie Shook, chair of the National TRANSCAER Task Group and Global Emergency Services Leader, Emergency Services & Security Expertise Center for Dow Chemical Co. “The TRANSCAER awards recognize those companies that have undertaken exceptional efforts to ensure the safe and secure transportation of potentially hazardous products.”

This year’s National Achievement Award winners are:

• BNSF Railway Company
• CSX Transportation
• Canadian National Railways — CN Dangerous Goods Team
• DuPont CAER Car Program
• Norfolk Southern Corporation
• The Dow Chemical Company
• Union Pacific Railroad

In addition, the 2010 Regional Achievement Award was presented to the state TRANSCAER teams in California, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania; and the Chairman’s Award was presented to Dave Buccolo, with the Central California Traction Company and TRANSCAER Region 4 Coordinator; and David Binder with Tanner Industries, Inc., who is chair of the 2011 Anhydrous Ammonia Tour Curriculum Development Committee. This is the second consecutive year that Dave Buccolo has received the Chairman’s Award

TRANSCAER companies train local emergency responders through a combination of hands-on activities, emergency planning assistance, and community drills and exercises, including the use of actual rail and truck equipment, table-top exercises that discuss responses to a possible emergency situation, and whistle-stop tours that bring emergency preparedness training to response organizations in communities across the country.

TRANSCAER summarizes the work of the award-winning companies to demonstrate and implement the principles of TRANSCAER:

BNSF Railway Company – Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas

BNSF is committed to training 2,500 emergency responders each year and in 2010 conducted major training tours in California and Montana, as well as outreach in Utah, Oregon, Washington state, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming. BNSF Railway operates in twenty-eight states with 33,000 track miles in the central, western and southeastern United States and transports approximately 1.2 million shipments of hazardous materials annually.

CSX Transportation — Headquarters: Jacksonville, Florida

The largest railroad in the eastern United States, CSXT operates in twenty-three states and two Canadian provinces and transports approximately 421,000 carloads of hazardous materials per year. CSXT continues to show its commitment to providing quality training to more responders through two new self-study