The Association of American Railroads (AAR) announced on October 19, 2016 the 2015 recipients of the Holden-Proefrock Award and Non-Accident Release Grand Slam Award. In addition, TRANSCAER® announced the winners of their National Achievement Awards. The awards are given annually to individuals and railroads operating in the hazardous materials fields.
Allen Richter, a member of Conrail’s risk management team, is this year’s Holden-Proefrock Award recipient. Since joining Conrail in 1995, Richter has built a strong rapport and trust with the emergency first responders in the communities where Conrail operates. His accomplishments include: working as a powerful and charismatic instructor to first responders, contributing to the AAR Tank Car Committee and the AAR Hazmat Committee through his vast knowledge of tank cars and hazardous materials regulation and demonstrating environmental excellence through successful coordination of asbestos surveys and abatements. Richter was also a Senior Inspector with the Bureau of Explosives (BOE) for nearly 15 years.
The Holden-Proefrock Award is named in honor of Roy Holden, a former AAR employee and an innovator in tank car design and safety, and Art Proefrock, a former Hulcher Emergency Services employee who pioneered hazardous materials transportation emergency response.
The 2015 Non-Accident Release Grand Slam Award was awarded to 33 companies. They are: Atlantic Trading and Marketing Inc., Axiall Corporation, BASF Corporation, Canexus Corporation, Cenovus Energy LLC, Chemtrade Logistics Inc., CHS Inc, Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd., Elbow River Marketing Ltd., ERCO Worldwide, Flint Hills Resources, Gibson Energy Inc., Green Plains Inc., Husky Energy Inc., INEOS, Kemira, Keyera Energy, Koppers Inc., Marathon Petroleum Company, Mercuria Energy Trading Inc., Methanex Methanol, NorFalco Sales, Glencore Canada Corporation, NOVA Chemicals, Olin Chlor Alkali, PBF Energy, Pembina Resource Services, Phillips 66 Company, POET Ethanol Products, PVS Chemicals, Inc., Shell Chemicals, Styrolution America LLC, Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P.
The AAR and the Bureau of Explosives present the Non-Accident Release Grand Slam Award annually to companies that are exemplary shippers of hazardous materials. An award winner must have been recognized by at least four Class I railroads and have had zero non-accident releases (NARs) involving their shipments the previous calendar year. A hazardous materials non-accident release is an unintentional release of a hazardous material while in transportation, but not involving an accident.
Additionally, six Class I railroads - BNSF Railway Company, Canadian National Dangerous Goods Team/ Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad - received the 2015 TRANSCAER® National Achievement Award in recognition of their extraordinary efforts in support of the TRANSCAER® initiative. Kansas City Southern Railway received the 2015 TRANSCAER® Regional Achievement Award.
TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) is a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and to respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. TRANSCAER® members consist of volunteer representatives from the chemical manufacturing, transportation, distributor and emergency response industries, as well as the government.
(Source: AAR)
